Customer Reviews

Decision Making Using Game Theory: An Introduction for Managers

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Anthony Kelly's book will help you take a step back from the day-to-day fray, and be more strategic in your approach to solving problems. He explains that during conflicts, people operate in their own perceived best interests. Sometimes, combatants can find a common ground, but sometimes the conflict is a "zero-sum game," with a winner and a loser. To come out on top as a player or manager, take advantage of the approaches and concepts of game theory. A word of caution, this volume relies heavily on formulas and decision-trees that may be beyond the ready grasp of non-technically minded managers. For those who want to put emotion aside and think strategically, however, reading this book is a rational move. We recommend it to those with mathematical or analytical skills, and finds that it will prove useful even to non-analysts who want to learn the fundamental concepts of game theory.

Positives,

I like the layout and feel of the book. The condensed format is really good. Good to get practice and working quickly in a subject that usually peresented in an overcomplex fashion.

Negatives:

I have no idea how this book passed any QA. I have found many errors in the equations and in the examples. A simple example of this is page 25 figure 2.7 the lines on the graph are mis labelled they need to be swapped.

The line for the top of the constraint is labelled 20x + 8y >= 680 and should be labelled x + 2/5y <= 40

The line of the bottom of the contraint is labelles x + 2/5 <= 40 and should be labelled 20x + 8y >= 680

If your math is weak or you have limited confidence to challenge the author you will have difficulty in understanding how the examples work.

Shame.... Luckly I bought the book second hand. It certainly is not worth the full retail price...