The 2nd edition of this successful book has several new features. The calibration discussion of the basic LIBOR market model has been enriched considerably, with an analysis of the impact of the swaptions interpolation technique and of the exogenous instantaneous correlation on the calibration outputs. A discussion of historical estimation of the instantaneous correlation matrix and of rank reduction has been added, and a LIBOR-model consistent swaption-volatility interpolation technique has been introduced. The old sections devoted to the smile issue in the LIBOR market model have been enlarged into a new chapter. New sections on local-volatility dynamics, and on stochastic volatility models have been added, with a thorough treatment of the recently developed uncertain-volatility approach. Examples of calibrations to real market data are now considered. The fast-growing interest for hybrid products has led to a new chapter. A special focus here is devoted to the pricing of inflation-linked derivatives. The three final new chapters of this second edition are devoted to credit. Since Credit Derivatives are increasingly fundamental, and since in the reduced-form modeling framework much of the technique involved is analogous to interest-rate modeling, Credit Derivatives -- mostly Credit Default Swaps (CDS), CDS Options and Constant Maturity CDS - are discussed, building on the basic short rate-models and market models introduced earlier for the default-free market. Counterparty risk in interest rate payoff valuation is also considered, motivated by the recent Basel II framework developments.

This book analyzes the determinants and effectiveness of corporate governance in an integrated model drawing on contingency theory and employing structural equation modeling (SEM). Business competition as an environmental factor and strategy as an organizational factor are important determinants of corporate governance, while organizational performance and earnings quality are two dimensions of its effectiveness. This book focuses on the relationship between corporate governance and earnings management, and shows that corporate governance is effective in improving earnings quality and reducing accounting and governance risks. The authors also question the relation between corporate governance and company performance and present results of their analysis in this book.

Significantly extended from the first edition and published in response to the new international standard ISO55000, this book on physical asset management (2nd Ed.) presents a systematic approach to the management of physical assets from concept to disposal. It introduces the general principles of physical asset management and covers all stages of the asset management process, including initial business appraisal, identification of fixed asset needs, capability gap analysis, financial evaluation, logistic support analysis, life cycle costing, management of in-service assets, maintenance strategy, outsourcing, cost-benefit analysis, disposal and renewal. Physical asset management is the management of fixed assets such as equipment, plant, buildings and infrastructure. Features include: *Suitable for university courses and builds on first edition to provide further analytical material *Aligned with the international asset management standard ISO55000 *Provides a basis for the establishment of physical asset management as a professional discipline *Presents case studies, analytical techniques and numerical examples with solutions Written for practitioners and students in asset management, this textbook provides an essential foundation to the topic. It is suitable for an advanced undergraduate or postgraduate course in asset management, and also offers an ideal reference text for engineers and managers specializing in asset management, reliability, maintenance, logistics or systems engineering.

This book provides an exhaustive view of China’s Management Control Systems (MCS), examining the development of theory and practice and presenting a framework that integrates China’s unique enterprise regulations, corporate culture and managerial mindset into management control systems. The work offers detail about the effects of China’s economic reforms on management control in Chinese enterprises and insightful comparisons with Western theory and Western examples. Readers will discover important themes and the evolution of theory in MCS, including discussions of frameworks and the links between management control and economics, management, accounting, cybernetics and system theory. Early chapters explore management control in Chinese enterprises during the period, especially the demands of (guidance, enforcement and external regulation) and the demand for (stakeholders, managers, investors) management control. The work moves on to explore Western management control theory and research, including an examination of the evolution of internal control theory. The author presents detailed perspectives on the elements of management control systems and introduces masterful new ideas and methods through four general control models and ten critical elements in the management control process. A view of management control in various different types of enterprise is presented, from special enterprises and small to medium enterprises to non-profit organizations. The standards for enterprise management control are explored. This work is a valuable practical guide for corporate management teams who wish to develop and execute their own internal control strategies. It will also provide foreign researchers, policy-makers and practitioners with a new perspective on Chinese management control experiences. 

In 1945, very early in the history of the development of a rigorous analytical theory of probability, Feller (1945) wrote a paper called "The fundamental limit theorems in probability" in which he set out what he considered to be "the two most important limit theorems in the modern theory of probability: the central limit theorem and the recently discovered ... 'Kolmogoroff's cel ebrated law of the iterated logarithm' ". A little later in the article he added to these, via a charming description, the "little brother (of the central limit theo rem), the weak law of large numbers", and also the strong law of large num bers, which he considers as a close relative of the law of the iterated logarithm. Feller might well have added to these also the beautiful and highly applicable results of renewal theory, which at the time he himself together with eminent colleagues were vigorously producing. Feller's introductory remarks include the visionary: "The history of probability shows that our problems must be treated in their greatest generality: only in this way can we hope to discover the most natural tools and to open channels for new progress. This remark leads naturally to that characteristic of our theory which makes it attractive beyond its importance for various applications: a combination of an amazing generality with algebraic precision.

In financial and actuarial modeling and other areas of application, stochastic differential equations with jumps have been employed to describe the dynamics of various state variables. The numerical solution of such equations is more complex than that of those only driven by Wiener processes, described in Kloeden & Platen: Numerical Solution of Stochastic Differential Equations (1992). The present monograph builds on the above-mentioned work and provides an introduction to stochastic differential equations with jumps, in both theory and application, emphasizing the numerical methods needed to solve such equations. It presents many new results on higher-order methods for scenario and Monte Carlo simulation, including implicit, predictor corrector, extrapolation, Markov chain and variance reduction methods, stressing the importance of their numerical stability. Furthermore, it includes chapters on exact simulation, estimation and filtering. Besides serving as a basic text on quantitative methods, it offers ready access to a large number of potential research problems in an area that is widely applicable and rapidly expanding. Finance is chosen as the area of application because much of the recent research on stochastic numerical methods has been driven by challenges in quantitative finance. Moreover, the volume introduces readers to the modern benchmark approach that provides a general framework for modeling in finance and insurance beyond the standard risk-neutral approach. It requires undergraduate background in mathematical or quantitative methods, is accessible to a broad readership, including those who are only seeking numerical recipes, and includes exercises that help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the underlying mathematics.

This book represents the refereed proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo Methods in Scientific Computing that was held at the University of Warsaw (Poland) in August 2010. These biennial conferences are major events for Monte Carlo and the premiere event for quasi-Monte Carlo research. The proceedings include articles based on invited lectures as well as carefully selected contributed papers on all theoretical aspects and applications of Monte Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo methods. The reader will be provided with information on latest developments in these very active areas. The book is an excellent reference for theoreticians and practitioners interested in solving high-dimensional computational problems arising, in particular, in finance and statistics.

The field of natural computing has been the focus of a substantial research effort in recent decades. One particular strand of this research concerns the development of computational algorithms using metaphorical inspiration from systems and phenomena that occur in the natural world. These naturally inspired computing algorithms have proven to be successful problem-solvers across domains as diverse as management science, bioinformatics, finance, marketing, engineering, architecture and design. This book is a comprehensive introduction to natural computing algorithms, suitable for academic and industrial researchers and for undergraduate and graduate courses on natural computing in computer science, engineering and management science.

Organizations consider trust as a pillar for successful operations in an increasingly global competitive environment. Some professionals go further and argue that in an economy trust is more important than natural resources. This book deals with ways to measure trust and its impact on organizational performance, as well as to understand the role of Management Accounting in creating trust. The author demonstrates that trust drives organizational performance, and reveals the key role of management accountants in facilitating the flow of trust between CEOs and line managers.

This volume presents five surveys with extensive bibliographies and six original contributions on set optimization and its applications in mathematical finance and game theory. The topics range from more conventional approaches that look for minimal/maximal elements with respect to vector orders or set relations, to the new complete-lattice approach that comprises a coherent solution concept for set optimization problems, along with existence results, duality theorems, optimality conditions, variational inequalities and theoretical foundations for algorithms. Modern approaches to scalarization methods can be found as well as a fundamental contribution to conditional analysis. The theory is tailor-made for financial applications, in particular risk evaluation and [super-]hedging for market models with transaction costs, but it also provides a refreshing new perspective on vector optimization. There is no comparable volume on the market, making the book an invaluable resource for researchers working in vector optimization and multi-criteria decision-making, mathematical finance and economics as well as [set-valued] variational analysis.

This book offers a comprehensive guide to the modelling of operational risk using possibility theory. It provides a set of methods for measuring operational risks under a certain degree of vagueness and impreciseness, as encountered in real-life data. It shows how possibility theory and indeterminate uncertainty-encompassing degrees of belief can be applied in analysing the risk function, and describes the parametric g-and-h distribution associated with extreme value theory as an interesting candidate in this regard. The book offers a complete assessment of fuzzy methods for determining both value at risk (VaR) and subjective value at risk (SVaR), together with a stability estimation of VaR and SVaR. Based on the simulation studies and case studies reported on here, the possibilistic quantification of risk performs consistently better than the probabilistic model. Risk is evaluated by integrating two fuzzy techniques: the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and the fuzzy extension of techniques for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution. Because of its specialized content, it is primarily intended for postgraduates and researchers with a basic knowledge of algebra and calculus, and can be used as reference guide for research-level courses on fuzzy sets, possibility theory and mathematical finance. The book also offers a useful source of information for banking and finance professionals investigating different risk-related aspects.

This introductory text is devoted to exposing the underlying nature of price formation in financial markets as a predominantly sociological phenomenon that relates individual decision-making to emergent and co-evolving social and financial structures. Two different levels of this sociological influence are considered: First, we examine how price formation results from the social dynamics of interacting individuals, where interaction occurs either through the price or by direct communication. Then the same processes are revisited and examined at the level of larger groups of individuals. In this book, models of both levels of socio-finance are presented, and it is shown, in particular, how complexity theory provides the conceptual and methodological tools needed to understand and describe such phenomena. Accordingly, readers are first given a broad introduction to the standard economic theory of rational financial markets and will come to understand its shortcomings with the help of concrete examples. Complexity theory is then introduced in order to properly account for behavioral decision-making and match the observed market dynamics. This book is conceived as a primer for newcomers to the field, as well as for practitioners seeking new insights into the field of complexity science applied to socio-economic systems in general, and financial markets and price formation in particular.

Learn to start open, productive talks about money with your parents as they age As your parents age, you may find that you want or need to broach the often-difficult subject of finances. In Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations with Your Parents About Their Finances, you’ll learn the best ways to approach this issue, along with a wealth of financial and legal information that will help you help your parents into and through their golden years. Sometimes parents are reluctant to address money matters with their adult children, and topics such as long-term care, retirement savings (or lack thereof), and end-of-life planning can be particularly touchy. In this book, you’ll hear from others in your position who have successfully had “the talk� with their parents, and you’ll read about a variety of conversation strategies that can make talking finances more comfortable and more productive. Learn conversation starters and strategies to open the lines of communication about your parents’ finances Discover the essential financial and legal information you should gather from your parents to be prepared for the future Gain insight from others’ stories of successfully talking money with aging parents Gather the courage, hope, and motivation you need to broach difficult subjects such as care facilities and end-of-life plans For children of Baby Boomers and others looking to assist aging parents with their finances, Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk is a welcome and comforting read. Although talking money with your parents can be hard, you aren’t alone, and this book will guide you through the process of having fruitful financial conversations that lead to meaningful action.

Whether you're a not-for-profit (NFP) professional or work with NFP clients, you can set yourself apart with the AICPA Not-for-Profit Certificate I (40 CPE Credits and 40 CAE Credits). As of August 1, 2018, Not-for-Profit Certificate Program content has been updated to reflect implementation of FASB Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs) effective for most not-for-profit entities for their next financial reporting period, including those related to financial statement presentation (ASU 2016-14) and revenue recognition (ASU 2014-09 and ASU 2018-08). The Not-for-Profit Certificate Program I, Winner of Accounting Today's Best New Products 2016, will help you build a strong foundation for NFP skills across these key tracks: Introduction to Not-for-Profit Entities Accounting & Financial Reporting Tax Compliance Governance & Assurance Essential information for anyone with a non-profit role You'll get a comprehensive overview of a non-profit's unique financial needs and is perfect for: CPA firms looking for foundational training for or NFP clients Nonprofits seeking to deepen staff knowledge Those seeking a certificate as proof of proficiency with NFP clients Professionals who want to expand skill sets and build their resume Learn anytime, anywhere This award-winning, self-paced e-learning course is available on-demand to suit your schedule--and all learning styles and levels, through: Audio and video Interactive skills practice and gamification Case studies and real-world scenarios Hands-on exercises Earn credentials--and spotlight your accomplishment With this Certificate program, you'll get both CPE and CAE credits. You'll also earn a digital badge, that lets you show your achievement anywhere on the web -- a personal blog, a social network like LinkedIn, biographical page on your company's website or online resume. Your Certificate and digital badge information will be sent to you once you've completed the program. Courses included in this program: Accounting and Financial Reporting Track Not-for-Profit Entity Overview GAAP for NFPs Financial Statement Presentation Net Assets Exchange and Agency Transactions Revenue from Contributions Assets Programmatic Investments Fair Value Issues Specific to NFPs Expenses Investments Split Interest Agreements and Endowments Tax Compliance Track Liabilities Tax Exempt Status Tax Compliance Track Unrelated Business Income Tax Introduction to Form 990 Private Foundations Federal and State Filing Requirements Not-for-Profit Governance and Assurance Track Best Practices in Board Governance Risk Assessment and Internal Controls Fraud Overview and Prevention Planning the Audit Engagement Financial Oversight, Budget and Strategy Auditing Considerations Credit Info CPE CREDITS: Online: 40.0 (CPE credit info) CAE CREDITS: Online: 40.0 (CPE credit info) NASBA FIELD OF STUDY: Accounting, Auditing, Business Management & Organization, Taxes LEVEL: Basic PREREQUISITES: Knowledge of the not-for-profit industry ADVANCE PREPARATION: None YELLOW BOOK HOURS: Online - 31 DELIVERY METHOD: QAS Self-Study COURSE ACRONYM: NFP-CERT Online Access Instructions A personal pin code is enclosed in the physical packaging that may be activated online upon receipt. Once activated, you will gain immediate online access to the product. Frequently Asked Questions Do I have to be a CPA to get the certificate? You do not have to be a CPA to obtain the certificate. The certificate is designed to benefit CPAs and non-CPA alike, including anyone who works for, or with, a nonprofit. Those who obtain the certificate will receive the recommended CPE / CAE credits. What level of knowledge should I possess prior to starting the NFP Certificate program? While the program is designed to provide a foundational level of learning, individuals will benefit from having a basic understanding and awareness of financial reporting, auditing, governance and tax terminology and practices. How is the course material presented? Designed to be highly interactive, this program offers multiple opportunities for learning, including case study analysis and several gaming scenarios. Participants will be offered the opportunity to apply their new NFP knowledge in a simulated real-world environment. Tests are presented after each course to allow you to apply what you just learned. There are no additional tests at the end of tracks or when you've completed the certificate. How long will it take me to complete? This varies from individual to individual and is completely dependent upon the time the participant allocates to completing the coursework. A commitment of approximately 40 hours will be required for most individuals to successfully complete the program. What period of time do I have to complete the program? You have twenty-four (24) months from the date of purchase to complete all the courses. You are encouraged to complete the program within a twelve (12) month period or less. Can I complete the program in any order? Yes, there are no limitations on the order in which you take the courses. When will I receive a hard copy of my certificate? You will receive your certificate in the mail 6-8 weeks after completing the program. Once I complete the program and obtain my Certificate, how long is it valid? The NFP Certificate is not a professional credential or license, it is evidence that the program was successfully completed as of a certain year, therefore it does not expire. However, we anticipate that some individual courses may be updated every 1-3 years to reflect changes in the industry. For your certificate to remain current, you will need to successfully complete those updated courses. However, updates are likely to be at a fraction of the cost of the original certificate. Plus, you have access to the program for 24 months from purchase, if the courses are updated during that period, you will have access to the updated courses at no additional cost. Completion of these updated courses will earn a new Certificate, with the current year's date. Is there any cost savings in purchasing the entire certificate over buying tracks individually? Yes, the more courses you buy, the less you pay per course. For instance, a member who buys the certificate will save approximately $150 over someone who buys the tracks individually, and approximately $400 over someone who buys all the courses individually. If I were to purchase one course or track, and then decided to purchase the entire certificate, will I still get the full bundled price savings? Yes, as long as you haven't already paid more than the full certificate price. The price you paid for the courses or tracks you have already taken will be deducted from the total certificate price. If I am unable to complete the entire NFP Certificate Program, will I receive CPE credit for the courses I do complete? You are not required to complete the entire program to earn CPE credit. The courses are offered individually, so you will earn CPE credit for each course you take and successfully complete the exam. However, you must successfully complete the exam for all courses in the entire program in order to receive the NFP Certificate. Am I required to obtain a certain number of CPE credits annually for the Certificate to remain current and active? There are no specific annual requirements for maintaining your Certificate. However, we anticipate that some individual courses may be updated every 1-3 years to reflect changes in the industry. For your certificate to remain current, you will need to successfully complete those updated courses. However, updates are likely to be at a fraction of the cost of the original certificate. Plus, you have access to the program for 24 months from purchase, if the courses are updated during the access period, you will have access to the updated courses at no additional cost. I have prior experience working with NFPs. Will I be allowed to test out of certain courses while still earning the certificate? Actual completion of the courses is required to earn the NFP Certificate. CPE credit is being awarded for the courses, and the CPE standards do not allow for "testing out of" a course as a way to earn credit. System Requirements AICPA's online CPE courses will operate in a variety of configurations, but only the configuration described below is supported by AICPA technicians. A stable and continuous internet connection is required. In order to record your completion of the online learning courses, please ensure you are connected to the internet at all times while taking the course. It is your responsibility to validate that CPE certificate(s) are available within your account after successfully completing the course and/or exam. Supported Operating Systems: Macintosh OS X 10.10 to present Windows 7 to present Supported Browsers: Apple Safari Google Chrome Microsoft Internet Explorer Mozilla Firefox Required Browser Plug-ins: Adobe Flash Adobe Acrobat Reader Technical Support: Please contact [email protected].

The relations between Turkey and Germany deserve to be called unique because of their depth and extent. This book offers an interdisciplinary approach on these relations from political, socio-economic and business perspectives. In this context, it is a beneficial reference book for those academics in Political Science, Economics and Business Administration who focus their researches on various aspects of the relations between Turkey and Germany. It also provides useful insight for the practitioners such as policy makers, diplomats, investors, financial analysts, NGOs that are engaged in Turkish-German relations, German companies invested in Turkey and Turkish companies that transfer know-how from Germany.

The book discusses various cases of financialisation and financial crisis in South-Eastern Europe. While these can be directly traced to the region's reliance upon the global financial regime, the interplay of international financial institutions, the eurozone's rigidity and domestic policies have produced various outcomes in the countries of the region. The study presents quantitative and qualitative research and offers new insights into the processes that shape the financial and monetary systems. The ex post analysis of how financial instability was created and how it could have been prevented, hopes to provide insights for policy-makers today.

This book introduces the theory of stochastic processes with applications taken from physics and finance. Fundamental concepts like the random walk or Brownian motion but also Levy-stable distributions are discussed. Applications are selected to show the interdisciplinary character of the concepts and methods. In the second edition of the book a discussion of extreme events ranging from their mathematical definition to their importance for financial crashes was included. The exposition of basic notions of probability theory and the Brownian motion problem as well as the relation between conservative diffusion processes and quantum mechanics is expanded. The second edition also enlarges the treatment of financial markets. Beyond a presentation of geometric Brownian motion and the Black-Scholes approach to option pricing as well as the econophysics analysis of the stylized facts of financial markets, an introduction to agent based modeling approaches is given.

Over the last few years, financial statement scandals, cases of fraud and corruption, data protection violations, and other legal violations have led to numerous liability cases, damages claims, and losses of reputation. As a reaction to these developments, several regulations have been issued: Corporate Governance, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, IFRS, Basel II and III, Solvency II and BilMoG, to name just a few. In this book, compliance is understood as the process, mapped not only in an internal control system, that is intended to guarantee conformity with legal requirements but also with internal policies and enterprise objectives (in particular, efficiency and profitability). The current literature primarily confines itself to mapping controls in SAP ERP and auditing SAP systems. Maxim Chuprunov not only addresses this subject but extends the aim of internal controls from legal compliance to include efficiency and profitability and then well beyond, because a basic understanding of the processes involved in IT-supported compliance management processes are not delivered along with the software. Starting with the requirements for compliance (Part I), he not only answers compliance-relevant questions in the form of an audit guide for an SAP ERP system and in the form of risks and control descriptions (Part II), but also shows how to automate the compliance management process based on SAP GRC (Part III). He thus addresses the current need for solutions for implementing an integrated GRC system in an organization, especially focusing on the continuous control monitoring topics. Maxim Chuprunov mainly targets compliance experts, auditors, SAP project managers and consultants responsible for GRC products as readers for his book. They will find indispensable information for their daily work from the first to the last page. In addition, MBA, management information system students as well as senior managers like CIOs and CFOs will find a wealth of valuable information on compliance in the SAP ERP environment, on GRC in general and its implementation in particular.

George Soros, is one of the most acclaimed and feared figures in the investment world. Famous for his role in breaking the Bank of England, he is also known for his outspoken criticism of distinguished politicians. Soros has earned his respect not only from his investment coups but also for his charitable activities and for encouraging pro-democracy movements around the world. This book explores the life of a man who has an undue influence on world-wide currency markets. His dramatic life story will attract a wide range of readers, even those who are not familiar with the world of investment and finance.

Um den Jahresabschluss kommt keiner herum. FA1/4r all jene, die sich kompakt und leicht verstAndlich A1/4ber Bilanzen informieren wollen, ist dies genau das richtige Buch. ZunAchst erklAren die Autoren den Unterschied zwischen internem und externem Rechnungswesen, damit Sie das Thema Jahresabschluss einordnen kAnnen. Und dann geht es ans Eingemachte: Sie erfahren, wie eine Bilanz aufgebaut ist, welche Gewinnermittlungsarten es gibt und welche unterschiedlichen Bewertungsvorschrift befolgt werden mA1/4ssen. Und zu guter Letzt erlAutern die Autoren, was es mit einem Konzernabschluss und dem GeschAftsbericht samt Anhang und Lagebericht auf sich hat.

Many mathematical assumptions on which classical derivative pricing methods are based have come under scrutiny in recent years. The present volume offers an introduction to deterministic algorithms for the fast and accurate pricing of derivative contracts in modern finance. This unified, non-Monte-Carlo computational pricing methodology is capable of handling rather general classes of stochastic market models with jumps, including, in particular, all currently used Levy and stochastic volatility models. It allows us e.g. to quantify model risk in computed prices on plain vanilla, as well as on various types of exotic contracts. The algorithms are developed in classical Black-Scholes markets, and then extended to market models based on multiscale stochastic volatility, to Levy, additive and certain classes of Feller processes. This book is intended for graduate students and researchers, as well as for practitioners in the fields of quantitative finance and applied and computational mathematics with a solid background in mathematics, statistics or economics.

Systematische und systemorientierte Darstellung der institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen der modernen Finanzintermediation.

This book presents innovations in the mathematical foundations of financial analysis and numerical methods for finance and applications to the modeling of risk. The topics selected include measures of risk, credit contagion, insider trading, information in finance, stochastic control and its applications to portfolio choices and liquidation, models of liquidity, pricing, and hedging. The models presented are based on the use of Brownian motion, Levy processes and jump diffusions. Moreover, fractional Brownian motion and ambit processes are also introduced at various levels. The chosen blend of topics gives an overview of the frontiers of mathematics for finance. New results, new methods and new models are all introduced in different forms according to the subject. Additionally, the existing literature on the topic is reviewed. The diversity of the topics makes the book suitable for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in the areas of financial modeling and quantitative finance. The chapters will also be of interest to experts in the financial market interested in new methods and products. This volume presents the results of the European ESF research networking program Advanced Mathematical Methods for Finance.

Management is a fragmented and interdisciplinary area of study, with a lot of academic branches. Willman argues this tree is narrower at its roots, and these roots lie primarily in social science. Key to the purpose of the book is to present management theory as applied social science. Developed out of a core management course at Master's level, this book introduces the field to students who may have little prior knowledge of management. Willman interprets 'management' broadly to embrace the sub-disciplines of strategy, finance, accounting, marketing, organisational behaviour and operations management. The text aims to show how they arose and how they relate, thus engaging the reader in a little history. The book is integrative, in that it seeks to find common concerns in disparate literatures. It is also critical in that it seeks to comparatively evaluate contributions to the management field both in terms of theoretical contribution and practical impact. It is intended to be accessible to a range of readers, presenting technical materials in an informal way. Finally, it is introductory in that it assumes no previous knowledge of the academic management field.