A-Z of Business Mathematics Inventory Management
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Book Selection gained bysharing out the "practical example" demonstration between a numberof other chapters. Inconclusion I found the book well laid out and felt it would be useful for both the manager who has not encountered the mathematical side ofmanagement in any detail before or the "part-time" mathematician who wishes to brush up on some managerial aspect ofthe discipline-orindeed for use as a reference book in these fields, the index being accurate and comprehensive. It strikes the right balance between mathematical formulation andreadable prose. Afurther volume, dealingwith extensions ofthis type of mathematicssuch as dynamic programming, amoredetailed study ofprobability theory and its applications (particularly decision theory), could only complementthe work N.R. PERKINS A-Z ofBusiness Mathematics W.B. WILTON Heinemann, London, U.K., 1980. 176 pp. £4.95, s/b. ISBN 4 34 92260 9 This glossary ofbusiness mathematicshas been published in association with The Insti- tuteof Cost and Management Accountants and its intended readers areaccountants and managers.As aconsequence, thebook assumes nomore thanan ' 0'level background in mathematics. Atotal ofsome 1100 non-technical explanations ofte rms used in business and management science is provided, with verbal descriptions of the more complex concepts. Relativelysimple topicssuch as breakeven analysis, mean and variance, matrix algebra and probability theory are discussed at sufficient length to enable the reader to apply the material for himself. More complex topics such as integral calculus, econo- metricsand entropy are passed overin acoupleof sentences .Thebook is notintended to enable managers to be mathematicians but rather to help them understand the math- ematics language used by others. Awelcome feature is that almost all commonO.R. terms are included and it is to be hoped thatthis will assist clients ofO.R. togain acursory understanding ofconcepts as diverse as parametric programming, Markov processes and game theory. The book serves its intended purpose well. Itis, however, unlikely to be found onthe bookshelfof an O.R. man, unless curiosity leads one to investigate the meanings of googolplex, platykuricand Zipfsprinciple! CLIVE H. ELPHICK Inventory Management Institutefor Financial Management and Research, India, 1980, 174 + xiv pp. U.S. $8.00 In 1979 the Indian Institute for Financial Management and Research sent a question- naire to 200 companies todiscover how companies operating in India viewed the prob- lem ofinventory management. Replies were received from only 48 of these companies. This book reports the responses and purports to give a "comprehensive idea of the patternsa ndproblems of inventory managementin India, mainly as seen by the organis- ationthemselves". GRAHAM K. RAND 421 Operational Research Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Journal of the Operational Research Society. ® www.jstor.org.