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Tables of Contents for The Portable MBA
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Preface
xiii
PART I: WHAT IS BUSINESS ABOUT?
3
100
Chapter 1 What Is Business?
3
8
The New Competition
4
2
The Intelligent Enterprise
6
2
Understanding Business Ecosystems
8
1
Implications
9
1
For Further Reading
10
1
Chapter 2 The Future
11
14
The Millennium Problem
15
1
Elements of Developing Scenarios
16
5
Macrotrends
21
3
For Further Reading
24
1
Chapter 3 Managing People
25
18
Introduction
25
1
A Brief Tour through Business History
26
3
The Role of Individuals and Relationships
29
4
Groups and Teams
33
3
The Organizational Level
36
3
Some Practical Principles
39
2
For Further Reading
41
2
Chapter 4 Business Ethics
43
18
Introduction
43
1
What Constitutes an Ethical Issue?
44
3
The Tools of Moral Reasoning
47
6
A Method for Understanding Capitalism in Ethical Terms
53
4
Ethical Challenges to Business
57
2
For Further Reading
59
2
Chapter 5 Making Decisions Rigorously: The Use of Quantitative Methods
61
20
Influence Diagrams
62
2
Decision Trees
64
2
Probability and Statistics
66
4
Time Value of Money
70
4
The Pros and Cons of Decision Analysis
74
1
Case Study: Takeover Strategy toward Conrail Corporation
74
5
For Further Reading
79
2
Chapter 6 Understanding Economics
81
22
Microeconomics
82
1
Supply and Demand
83
6
Macroeconomics
89
2
National Income Accounting
91
3
Fiscal Policy
94
1
Monetary Policy
95
1
Interest Rates
96
1
Balance of Payments
97
1
For Further Reading
98
5
PART II: THE FUNCTIONS OF BUSINESS
103
148
Chapter 7 Marketing Management: Leveraging Customer Value
103
22
The Marketing Concept
104
2
Marketing Strategy's Role in Corporate Strategy
106
2
The Importance of Customer Selection
108
9
Marketing Activity Must Pervade the Organization
117
3
Customer Value Creation and the Role of Employees
120
2
Value Creation Through Alliances and Partnerships
122
2
For Further Reading
124
1
Chapter 8 Operations Management: Implementing and Enabling Strategy
125
26
Operations Management Is the Implementation of Business Strategy
125
3
Operational Excellence Is Necessary for Sustained Profitability
128
1
Measures of Process Performance: What Is Improvement?
128
5
Achieving Process Improvement: Principles of Operations Management
133
15
Operations Strategy Is the Selection and Building of Capabilities
148
1
For Further Reading
149
2
Chapter 9 Innovation and Technology Management
151
22
Developing a Technology Strategy
152
12
Managing the Innovation Process
164
3
Organizing for Innovation
167
4
How the Winners Hit Home Runs
171
1
For Further Reading
172
1
Chapter 10 Accounting
173
20
Double-Entry Bookkeeping Captures the Systemic Nature of the Firm
174
3
The Truth about Accounting: It Precisely Gives an "Approximate" View
177
1
How to Read an Annual Report
178
8
Assessing the Financial Health of a Firm
186
3
Assessing Performance against a Plan: Managerial Accounting
189
3
Conclusion
192
1
For Further Reading
192
1
Chapter 11 Finance
193
22
Principle 1: Think Like an Investor
194
8
Principle 2: Invest When the Intrinsic Value of an Asset Equals or Exceeds the Outlay
202
7
Principle 3: Sell Securities (Raise Funds) When the Cash Received Equals or Exceeds the Value of Securities Sold
209
3
Principle 4: Ignore Options at Your Peril: They Are Pervasive, Tricky to Value, and Can Strongly Influence a Decision
212
2
Principle 5: If You Get Confused, Return to Principle 1
214
1
For Further Reading
214
1
Chapter 12 Human Resource Management
215
16
Introduction
215
1
HRM: From Administration to Strategy
216
1
The Basic Tasks of Human Resource Management
217
4
HRM in the New Competitive Reality
221
7
Evaluating HRM Effectiveness
228
1
For Further Reading
229
2
Chapter 13 Strategy: Defining and Developing Competitive Advantage
231
20
The Strategy Development Process
232
1
Step 1: Industry Analysis--Industry Profitability Today and Tomorrow
233
4
Step 2: Positioning--Sources of Competitive Advantage
237
4
Step 3: Competitor Analysis--Past and Predicted
241
2
Step 4: Audit of Position--Assessment of Relative Position and Sustainability
243
1
Step 5: Option Generation--A Creative Look at New Customers and Positions
244
1
Step 6: Assessment of Capabilities--Positioning for Future Opportunities
244
1
Step 7: Choose a Strategy--Position, Trade-Offs, Fit
245
2
Strategy: Commitment or Flexibility?
247
1
For Further Reading
248
3
PART III: NEW HORIZONS
251
78
Chapter 14 Leading from the Middle: A New Leadership Paradigm
251
26
Introduction
251
1
Fundamental Shifts
252
8
Partial Solutions
260
6
Reinventing the Practice of Management
266
7
Leading from the Middle: Some Conclusions
273
2
For Further Reading
275
2
Chapter 15 Strategic Alliances
277
24
What Is a Strategic Alliance?
278
1
The Rationale for Alliances
279
2
Core Dimensions of Alliances
281
4
A Life-Cycle Approach to Strategic Alliances
285
4
The Alliance Manager
289
3
Interimistic Alliances
292
7
Summary
299
1
For Further Reading
300
1
Chapter 16 International Business
301
24
Motives for International Investment
302
4
Sources of Divergence
306
3
Political and Operating Risk
309
9
Foreign Exchange Rates
318
4
Organizing the Multinational Firm
322
1
For Further Reading
323
2
Chapter 17 Some Final Thoughts
325
4
Chapter Notes
329
12
About the Authors
341
2
Index
343