Reviews (17)

Great source for managers
This is one of those few books that is simple yet not simplistic. Book is written for corporate managers whose job responsibility is outside the decipline of finance, however who can benefit from knowing the finance at the fundamental level. Book does not go into "mechanics" of finance and focuses more on the "essense" of finance. Written with the simplicity of small business yet with questions to be asked in large corporations. I would strongly recommend this book to all my managers.

Very helpful and on an understandable level.
Helpful to managers to give them insight into where accountants are projecting and where hard numbers are coming from.You are able to see sources of manipulation.

Strongly recommended to all business managers, both the novice and the experienced
Financial Intelligence: A Manager's Guide To Knowing What The Numbers Really Mean by Karen Berman and Joe Knight (owners of the Los Angeles-based Business Literacy institute) with management expert John Case is an innovative and "user friendly" instructional guide to proper and intelligible management of finances and business oriented decision making. Financial Intelligence is an impressive compendium of guidelines and information including the basics of financial measurement, reading income statements, balancing sheets, cash flow statements, separating hard data from the assumptions and estimates, the mechanics of analysis, calculating ratios, return on investment, working on capital, knowing the difference between cash and profit, financial literacy and transparency and how to recognize how the two can boost performance. Financial Intelligence is very strongly recommended to all business managers, both the novice and the experienced, as everyone has something to learn.
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Subjects:  1. Accounting - Financial    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business Writing    5. Business/Economics    6. Cash Management    7. Corporate Finance    8. Corporations    9. Finance    10. Financial Accounting    11. Financial statements    12. Management - General    13. Management & management techniques   

Reviews (2)

Authoritative and Well Written
Gompers and Lerner have written the best book on venture capital thus far. The authors have done a great service to entrepreneurs, VCs, and the entire business community with this work. Absolutely Phenomenal Book
I can't say enough good things about this book!Gompers and Lerner provide a crystal clear explaination of the role venture capital plays in the economy and offers an insightful view of how venture capital will change in the future.Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Finance    6. Forecasting    7. New business enterprises    8. Small Business - Capital Generation    9. United States    10. Venture capital    11. Budgeting & financial management    12. Ownership & organization of enterprises   

Reviews (5)

this is a book that revolutionized management accounting
Relevance lost of a book about the history of management accounting.The book is very well documented in that in times they were able to deduce different conclusions made by others. They start from the very beginning exploring as far back as the 18th century.They start out by discussing how textile mills started recording in their books accounting information.They begin from the very beginnings of accounting.Accounting emerged as a discipline in the early 18th century, but their underlying purpose in not for internal uses but it was created so that stakeholders can gauge the value of their investment in the firms that put out these financial statements.In the book there are a number of firms they highlight that made important contributions to management accounting.The first company they highlight is DuPont corporation in the nineteenth century.There is a theme to the development of management accounting.DuPont first staterted out as a manufacturer of gunpowder but went on to become bigger.The first companies that innovated their way of internal controls in management accounting grew out of a necessity.DuPont first came out with a measure of their business which was the return on investment measure.Because Dupont was becoming bigger and it needed to measure return on investment to measure the profitability of individual business units.It was a measuring rod to asses the different business activities of it business units.With this measure the managers of DuPont could make decisions such us which business units to invest on and do away with units that are performing poorly. Historical backgrounds of BSC, ABC & EVA
If you want to understand everything about the historical backgrounds of such now well-known management instruments like the balanced scorecard, activity based costing and EVA, there is no better book to read than this book. This book started off a transformation of management accounting and of organizational performance management. Essential reading for controllers, students of management and management consultants.

Broad History of Mgmt Accounting
Good in-depth survey of the history and purpose of Management Accounting.Classic book.You see Kaplan's thought processes as he develops the basis of his later works on new forms of accounting such as the Balanced Scorecard and EVA.Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. United States    4. Management Accounting    5. Accounting - Managerial    6. Managerial accounting    7. Business/Economics    8. Accounting    9. Cost accounting   

Reviews (4)

Very good Book for a practitioner
I found the book very useful in practice. It gave you a lot of details.

Very poorly written
I found Arditti's writing to be simply attrocious.What the marketplace needs is a clear, concise guide to instrument structure and valuation, and Mr. Arditti writes in circles.As an example, his chapter on option pricing refers to "using the methods used previously in this chapter" without referring to how to apply these to the method just introduced.The method just introduced was explained using numbers that were presumably fabricated, but lord only knows, because the author can't be bothered to specify how his example was structured. He knows how to design derivatives and make them work
I am completely satisfied with this book. He knows how to design derivatives and make them work. This book does a remarkable job of explaining the theory and practice of derivative securities. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Derivative securities    6. Finance    7. Financial Markets    8. Investments    9. Investments & Securities - Futures    10. United States    11. Investment & securities   

Reviews (1)

Finally a complete and easy to follow book on trusts
This is one of the few books of its type to explain all the important data points of managing trusts and investing.Its straight forward and comprehensive.This is written for lawyers and non-profressionals with an interest in this area.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Estates & Trusts    3. Investment Finance    4. Investments & Securities - General    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. Legal investments    7. Personal Finance    8. Private Law    9. Prudent person rule    10. Trusts and trustees    11. United States    12. Investment & securities    13. Management accounting   

Reviews (8)

What's good in it?
First of all, this book doesn't give the pleasure of good reading. C'mon, what kind of pleasure do you expect from a 500 pages book with very small fonts?
BEST ANALYSIS OF ACTIVITY BASED COSTING AND HOW TO GUIDE
Kaplan and Cooper have put together an outstanding guidebook for managers to follow in order to reap the most significant benefits from activity based costing and other cost management techniques.The great merit of this book is that it does not preach to the reader the latest management fad, but rather goes through a thorough analysis of budgeting processes, highlighting benefits and drawbacks of each.They do not claim ABC is the best approach, and even praise some simpler methods that are more adequate for certain companies.Instead, they point to the circumstances in which ABC can provide outstanding results to companies. The very best book on activity-based management.
I have read this book cover to cover and have re-read chapters.Kaplan ensures that you grasp the fundamental concepts by keeping things simple. He illustrates the concepts with easy to understand examples. I gained very little knowledge from the first 3 ABM books I read, but after reading "Cost and Effect," I felt that I had a good enough grasp of the fundamentals to actually implement a costing system. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - Financial    2. Activity-based costing    3. Business & Economics    4. Business / Economics / Finance    5. Business/Economics    6. Case studies    7. Corporate Finance    8. Corporations    9. Employees    10. Finance    11. Management    12. Management Accounting    13. Rating    14. Cost accounting   

Reviews (26)

An interesting read
An interesting read for the serious investor.The central tenet of the book might be stated as "investors do not earn superior rates of return on stocks that are priced fully to reflect future performance - even for the best value-creating companies - which is why great companies are not great stocks."This book posits that investors can read market expectations contained in a stock's price and anticipate revisions in those expectations to achieve superior returns.It book provides a detailed, step-by-step way to accomplish this process.
A Refreshing Look at Market Performance
There is no question stock prices climb and fall based on investors' current perceptions of their future performance.
Is it just me
Seeing the other 5-star reviews makes me wonder, eihter those reviewers are clueless or I might have missed something big.
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Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Investment analysis    6. Investments & Securities - General    7. Portfolio management    8. Prices    9. Stocks    10. Stocks & shares    11. Investments & Securities    12. Stock market    13. Personal Finance - Investing   

Reviews (5)

superficial book
This book is extremely superficial and unimaginative, giving only scant information and profiles from a number of companies of a few finance careers.

good, but the Vault guides are better
In my opinion there is more and better objective information on Finance and investment banking careers in the Vault Career Guide to Investment Banking and in the Vault Guide to Finance Interviews, which have the added benefit of being able to be purchased on vault.com and downloaded immediately.Good luck.

better information in the Vault guides
In my opinion there is more and better objective information on Finance and investment banking careers in the Vault Career Guide to Investment Banking and in the Vault Guide to Finance Interviews, which have the added benefit of being able to be purchased on vault.com and downloaded immediately.Good luck. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Career/Job    4. Careers - General    5. Careers - Other Specific Fields    6. Careers / Job Opportunities    7. Corporate Finance    8. Finance    9. Advice on careers & achieving success    10. Careers guidance   

Reviews (1)

great book to understand financial functions
I read the Japanese version of this book. This is one of the best finalce books I've ever read. This book helped me to understand much better the future of financial businesses. It is especially good in explaining: whatis the rationale for financial intermediaries to exist,how capitalmarkets evolved, why corporations hedge by themselves, and how asymmetricinformation affects financial instruments. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Finance    5. Financial institutions, Intern    6. Financial institutions, International    7. International - General    8. International Finance    9. Management    10. Multinational corporations    11. Macroeconomics   

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Congresses    4. Information Management    5. Management Accounting    6. Managerial accounting   

Subjects:  1. Accounting    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. History    5. History Of Specific Companies    6. Infrastructure    7. Price Waterhouse    8. Price Waterhouse (Firm)    9. United States    10. 20th century    11. Industry & Industrial Studies    12. Social history    13. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Congresses    4. Management    5. Management - General    6. Management Accounting    7. Manufacturing industries    8. Accounting    9. Corporate finance   

Reviews (2)

Great insight into human capital and knowledge management
As co-founder of Human Capital Technology Inc. and active in the area of Knowledge Management, this book provides an essential history of information and knowledge management. By providing an historical perspective, the book clearly and simply explains the relationships between those who have information and those who want information and how that relationship has and continues change. Insightful, provocative view of the securities industry
Excellent book that describes the fundamental structure of the securities industry then overlays practical (and readily observable) elements of intellectual property/capital. One of the few intellectual capital books I have ever read that includes detailed analysis on J.P. Morgan, one of the all-time titans of capital.Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Finance    6. Financial services industry    7. Information Management    8. Information resources   

Reviews (3)

Good background material but not at all actionable
I'm familiar with this book as it was an assigned textbook for a graduate level accounting course I taught. Where is succeeds is in pointing out the flaws of traditional accounting as a management tool and traditional cost reduction efforts as a response. Their material on finding and retaining profitable products and finding and retaining profitable customers are especially good. However, there isn't much in here on implementing the ideas and some ideas, especially managing with the real numbers, may be difficult to impossible to implement. distills to one book many on subject
Although the critic that complains of lack of originality is perhaps correct, this book is of great use to the small business owner.Throughthis book one may convey the writtings of Porter, Kaplan, Drucker,Copeland, Urich and many others to the layman employee that neither has theinterest, time, nor perhaps even the capacity to to inculcate the writtingsof the aforementioned authors.It delivers the spirit and meaning of valueadding/non-value adding activity and itsrelavance for every business.

Heavy on Cases Light on Content
Apply the cost of this book to the purchase of Robert S. Kaplan's "The Balanced Scorecard" and, perhaps, "Cost & Effect." (I'm assuming that almost every reader already has a copy ofMichael Hammer's and James Champy's "Reengineering theCorporation.")The author's tend to quote the leading authorities inactivity based costing, balanced scorecards, and process reengineeringliberally and follow each quote with an endless stream of supporting cases. Outside of these celebrity quotes and the mind-numbing quantity of cases,there is a surprising lack of content -- I'm almost tempted to write theauthors to request a refund.Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Decision Making & Problem Solving    6. Employee Participation In Management    7. Employee participation    8. Management    9. Management - General    10. Participative management    11. Structural Adjustment    12. Teams in the workplace    13. Management & management techniques   

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Investments & Securities - General    6. Securities    7. Securities industry    8. United States    9. Business ethics    10. Investment & securities    11. USA   

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Corporate Finance    4. Finance    5. Budgeting & financial management    6. Management accounting   

Reviews (1)

Accounting hype!!!
The authors research the claims of the accounting profession about theimportance of knowing the "accounting language" to make it inbusiness. But find it not to be so. The information mosaic a manager trulyuses is (1) close to where the action is in the different functional unitsof the organization and (2) tied to primary units of activity and not themonetary units used in the mainstream accounting practice. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Information Management    5. Management Information Systems    6. Managerial accounting   

Reviews (1)

Why Japan Inc doesn't let accountants rule marketing
The book is fascinating for its insights on target costing in addition to the better known Japanese working concepts of target quality and time to market in developing next generation products. It is suggested that everyone in the business team should vision what mix of quality features, price, and in-market date will be competitive, and then target these aims relentlessly. Processes must be tailored to fit them, and innovation priorities are defined by these goals. So target costing, for example, becomes the whole development team's job. Meanwhile accounting (and other performance) measures are seen as a distraction - open a separate book on them as a formality if necessary - but don't let them get in the way of the lean marketing learning organisation. The one disappointment of this book is that the twenty or so case studies of Japanese companies on which it is based are not included in it. For the full story, you will have to buy each Harvard case study. If you would like to discuss this book or how it impacts western measurement notions, eg te Balanced Scorecard, e-mail Chris Macrae at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Case studies    5. Costs    6. Costs, Industrial    7. Industrial Production    8. Industries - General    9. Japan    10. Management - General    11. Manufacturing Industries (Economic Aspects)    12. Manufacturing industries    13. Production management    14. Budgeting & financial management    15. Management & management techniques    16. Ownership & organization of enterprises   

Reviews (1)

Lease or Buy Principles of Sound decison schallheim
It is a used copy from a community college library. I hope it is not a stolen copy but a resale by the college library. The condition is good. I am satsified with the product.
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Subjects:  1. Accounting    2. Accounting - General    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Industrial equipment leases    6. Lease and rental service    7. Lease or buy decisions    8. Management    9. Managerial Finance    10. Purchasing & Buying    11. Budgeting & financial management    12. Management decision making    13. Ownership & organization of enterprises   

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Career Planning (General)    4. Career/Job    5. Careers - General    6. Careers / Job Opportunities    7. Finance    8. Financial Economics (General)    9. Advice on careers & achieving success    10. Financial services industry