About the Book
Architects and engineers can build models to test their ideas - why not managers? In Game Theory in Management: Modelling Business Decisions and Their Consequences, author Michael Hatfield presents a series of mathematically structured analogies to real-life business and economic interaction scenarios, and then, using modern game theory, he shows how to test common managerial technical approaches for their effectiveness. His results are astonishing: if game theory is correct then many commonly-held and taught management approaches and techniques are not only less effective than thought, they are actually detrimental in many areas where they are held to be beneficial. Game Theory in Management also examines managerial implications from network theory, cartage schemes, risk management theory, management information system epistemology, and other areas where the quantification and testing of business decisions can be employed to identify winning and losing stratagems.
While the topic may seem complex, Game Theory in Management is a readable and fast-paced book; readers will come away with an entirely new perspective on the objectives, tactics, even purpose of management, and ways of evaluating the selected strategies and decisions of those within the team, inside the macro organization, and among competitors. Easily-employed tests for the validity and efficacy of management information systems are also addressed, as are those environments where cartage schemes can be most effective, and where they are not. In the areas of asset, project, and strategic management, Game Theory in Management is certain to become a game-changer.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Part I Win Using the Rules of the Game: Chess openings and risk management; Introduction to game theory and a code of nature; Game theory and cartage schemes; Network theory and games; Win using the rules of the game. Part II The Upper Limit: Deconstructing game theory; The pieces move like this…; De-constructing risk management; On the limits of knowledge and management information. Part III The Structured Solution: Managing to the corner cube; Corner cubes and robustness; Strategic management and the rehabilitation of game theory and risk management; Life, the universe, and everything; Index.
About the Author :
Michael Hatfield, PMP, CCC, EVM, is probably best known as the author of the long running column in PMNetwork magazine, Variance Threshold. Besides PMNetwork, his work has appeared in the Project Management Journal, Cost Engineering, Gantthead, People on Projects, The Measurable News, and even in the Nuclear Weapons Journal. He is the author of Things Your PMO Is Doing Wrong (PMI Publishing, 2008). He has worked as an entry-level technician for the Air Force Weapons Laboratory's Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) test sites, as the director of a National Laboratory's Project Management Office overseeing a budget of $1.3 Billion (USD), and many very interesting jobs in-between. Michael can be reached at varthold@aol.com, and software solutions based on the theories put forth in this book are available at www.austintechpubs.com.
Review :
'The subject matter is fairly advanced, Michael's writing style is free of the ponderousness that afflicts so many other books on the subjects of management science or game theory. He makes his points clearly and entertainingly. Just the term epistemology - the study of knowledge and its limits - I found rather daunting. Michael's employment of game theory is thorough, complete, and, best of all, crystal clear. Game Theory in Management is a must-read for executive or strategic managers, and especially for those who seek to successfully begin a PMO.' Mihaela Popa-Simil, PhD, MBA 'Having been entertained for eleven years by Michael Hatfield's work for PM Network magazine, I knew that I would like this book. But after forty years as a manager, I didn't know I would learn so much from it. Whether analyzing the origins of chess, the miscalculations of World War II, or the perfidy of Enron's energy traders, Michael moves effortlessly across the field of decision making, all in his trademark, easy-to-read style. Most of all, he shows us what game theory can - and can't - do for us as practicing managers.' Bud Baker, Professor of Management, Wright State University, USA 'The author is an extensively experienced, professionally qualified and internationally recognized project management writer and practitioner...Game Theory in Management findings and conclusions are so contrary to generally accepted and applied management practice, it could be a prelude to a paradigm shift.' American Society for the Advancement of Project Management 'It is much more than just Game Theory as applied to Management Decision Making. It is an excellent review of several management theories used for decision making and identifies their limitations and boundaries... once the PMP certificate is acquired, this book should be in every Project Manager's library.' PM World Journal, November 2012
