Executive Economics: Ten Tools for Business Decision Makers

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 286 pages
• Published by: Free Press September 5, 1994
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0029197856
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0029197851
• Book Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

From Publishers Weekly
Maital (Economic Games People Play) here confronts a major problem with the discipline of economics: business managers are often skeptical about what the dismal science has to offer the "real world." The author claims that economics can be of considerable value to managers if concepts are conveyed in understandable terms and in a way that is relevant to managers' experiences and needs. In answer to two basic questions-"What is it worth? What do I give up to get it?"-Maital demonstrates how concepts of economics like costs, value, price, inefficiency, productivity, information and comparative advantage can be utilized by general managers if presented in plain English unhampered by convoluted mathematical models. His homilies-"Good executives create customers. Great ones create markets"-make sense. Illustrations.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Maital gives us a practical book that illustrates how the economic way of thinking and analyzing can be employed to help clarify business decisions. Although countless other texts at least attempt and often do accomplish that, Maital's volume explains how to utilize modern economics as a decision-making science tool in a very simple way, that is, with little mathematics and academic jargon. The book explains ten basic principles that organizations can use to understand costs and benefits and make appropriate decisions based on two straightforward questions: what is it worth? and what must be given up to get it? The ten chapters make use of company examples and address such issues as cost, trade-offs, volume, competitive advantage, learning curves, risks, markets and demand, scale and scope, and break-even analysis. The final chapter discusses the necessity of "competing by cooperating" and summarizes the ten tools. Executive Economics is written for the business executives who want to grasp the relationships between cost, price, and value and to see how to orchestrate these most basic concepts to enhance their company's success. Advanced business students and academics should also find it worthwhile. Joseph Leonard

Reader Reviews
As an instructor in a graduate course in managerial economics for non-economists, I have struggled to find texts which would appeal to students and professionals who are sceptical of the value of economics as a discipline which can help in solving business problems. Professor Maital's book is an exception. It speaks directly to executives by focussing on the kinds of strategic problems they face, and introducing fundamental economic concepts by illustration, not by the formalistic exposition of standard texts. I find his book as an excellent way to illustrate key concepts such as opportunity cost, marginal cost, economic versus accounting costs, and other concepts that unfortunately too often mystify students - or turn them off. Even if many of the examples now seem dated, I would heartily recommend this book to both instructors and students who seek to bridge the world of business problem-solving with the tools of theoretical microeconomics. The book is organized in ten highly readable chapters. My favorite quote from the book: "If you face no tradeoffs, your company is poorly managed."