Khan, M.Y. and Jain, P.K., Financial Management: Text, Problems and Case, 6th ed. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill, 2011. 1404 pp. Rs. 575

The new edition of the book continues to focus on the financial theories. It futher and elaborates on theories that help in solving financial managers’ problems. The preface of the revised edition provides detailed changes in terms of chapters added or deleted, current topics included and the corporate examples elaborated. This helps the initial readers to track the updates. The author has included some of the real life ratios of RIL and their analysis for the period of 2001-09. Also, some recent capital structure theories like pecking order have been incorporated.

The book also includes detailed pedagogical features like mini cases, multiple choice questions, spreadsheet applications, CD and an associated website. Mini cases, the multiple choice questions, mathematical problems and their solutions in a CD would help the tutor apply the theoretical concepts by discussing the real life scenario, and associated spreadsheet exercises and further cases on website would help students in understanding concepts better. Together the pedagogical elements incorporated would help achieve the holistic knowledge of the subject. The publishers have also provided stock trak- a global portfolio simulation where the students receive a virtual brokerage account and simulate managing a portfolio of stocks, options, futures, bonds, mutual funds and other securities from over 20 global exchanges.

The chapters are broadly divided in ten parts. Part one is foundation of finance which includes basic financial theories like financial management, value of money, risk and return and valuation of bonds and shares. Part two consists of financial analysis, profit planning and control. Part three elaborates on topics like long term investment decisions and part four elaborates on working capital management. Part five throws light on financial decisions and the long term financing sources are elaborated in part six. Part seven discusses risk, part eight elaborates on dividend, part nine discusses valuation and corporate restructuring and finally part ten elaborates on international finance. Each chapter focuses on the managerial decision making. Every topic is followed by the examples which help explain the concept in a better way.

The author has used a user friendly writing style that ensures readability even for a non finance person. The ease of the language with uncomplicated real life scenarios would also help a non financial manager understand financial concepts and apply the same for managing their businesses. Thus, the book is appropriate for the management students and for managers.

Kanika Gupta,  Senior Lecturer, Institute for International Management and Technology, Gurgaon, India.

Jack Eaton, Globalization and Human Resource Management in the Airline Industry, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2001. 158pp. Rs. 39.95.

Globalization, which has impacted every facet of the world economy, has profound influence over the way business enterprises function. In the light of this even the global airline industry has to change and adapt to the changing world..

The book provides an overview on the Human Resource Management of the airline industry keeping in view the globalization and its influence. The book is divided into four parts, Part: I deals with external relations, Part: II deals with internal relations, Part: III with industrial relations and human resource management and finally Part: IV discusses Human resource management and other management functions. The book uses and analyses policies and practices of many airlines which is a welcome feature.

 Part: I dealing with external relations focuses on relations with various stakeholders like customers, state, investors, suppliers, general public, etc. Total Quality Management (TQM) is discussed as a concept and its application in the airline industry is elaborated upon. Examples like 'People Express' and the biggest carriers are highlighted in the book and they offer insight into the appropriateness and inappropriateness of TQM with changed environment. The advent of computerized reservation system and its impact on customer relationship has shown how a marketing tool has been useful in yield management. Relations with the state (government) as a crucial determinant of the human resource management practices discussed the various issues involved like bilateral agreements, 'open skies' policy, state ownership of airlines, etc.

Part: II focuses on internal relations - theory and elements of airline organizations. Planning, motivation, controlling, and leadership are the aspects covered in detail using different airlines and their practices as a point of reference. Then the factors that influence the decision to contract out or execute functions, within the organization, like cost, availability of capital, good mangers, employees, equipment and raw materials, etc have been explored.

Part: III looks at Industrial Relations and human resource management. A comparative analysis of British Airways and Air France was made, which throws light on how industrial relations are managed in the airline industry.

Part: IV primarily looks at human resource management as a strategic and interactive approach and its integration with production management, financial management and management of personnel have been discussed. Attention to customer care and Total Quality Management entail a systematic recruitment and training policies. The resource aspect of human resource management has been emphasized and has been juxtaposed against the cost of the human aspect in highly competitive market conditions.

Finally the book makes an interesting read and provides the reader with the various facets of the airline industry's human resource management in the context of globalization. The helpful aspect of the book is the use of various airlines as a point of reference and elaboration on their practices to throw light on the human resource management in the airline industry.

Dr. Durgamohan, Program Director (MSc.& BBA) and Professor, Institute for International Management and Technology, Gurgaon, India.

Kaur, Jasmine, International Financial Reporting Standards: A Practical Approach, New Delhi: Tata McGrawHill Publishing Company Limited, 2011. 388pp. Rs. 595

With the convergence process for IFRS in place and the direction to produce the financial reporting as per IFRS w.e.f. April 01, 2011 in India, this book is introduced at the right time to fill the required gap. This book presents the IFRS disclosures in a very simplified manner in terms of compact and interesting content which could be easily analyzed and synthesized. The book also scores in providing succinct and useful summary of the detailed concepts, memory tips, highlighting key points and also in displaying complex theory using simple figures and diagrams.

The book is broadly divided in three parts. The first part consists of chapter one, two and four. Chapters one and two detail the regulatory framework and the evolution of IAS/ IFRS. After discussing all the IAS in chapter three, chapter four is correctly placed to discuss the differences in IAS and IGAAP. This chapter discusses all the accounting standards which are different from IGAAP. Part two, which consists of chapter three, provides a brief overview of all the IAS. This part highlights key points related to disclosure of several IFRS/ IAS. This part does not discuss the accounting aspects of the accounting standards, instead it briefly discusses the disclosures required. Part four consists of chapter five to chapter fourteen that specify essential accounting standards. The author is of the opinion that if the readers tend to remember everything they would end up remembering nothing. Thus, important accounting standards (IAS 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 11, 16, 18, 37 and 38) are explained in detail along with their accounting treatment. These chapters are also followed by the worksheets and exercise questions that will help the students prepare for the examination.

Conjointly, the book scores as an easy read and would provide useful insight into IFRS disclosures to both students and practitioners. However, the book may not be very useful for the accountants or students and practitioners who intend to apply the accounting treatment for all the IAS, especially while converging their accounts.

Kanika Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Institute for International Management & Technology, Gurgaon, India.

V. Gangadhar & G Ramesh Babu, Investment Management, New Delhi: Anmol Publications Pvt. Limited, 2009, 465pp. Rs. 300

The tertiary sector is gaining more share in the GDP of countries due to an increasing population of salaried individuals. We now have a strong group of knowledgeable individuals who are aware about various investment options and are ready to grab the best options available in the market. The market has so many options to invest that investment management becomes an important topic for discussion. The book is an attempt to simplify the investment process for beginners/ learners.
The book has 5 units, a total of 437 pages and 9 chapters. Units I and II include an introduction and one chapter each on valuation of equity shares and bonds respectively. The formulae have been expressed in a simplistic style which does not scare the reader unlike many other books on this topic. There are few practical questions for understanding the concepts. However a summary/recap was much needed at the end of each chapter.
Unit II has three chapters that discuss money market and the capital market. This section provides an overview of how these markets operate, the nature of their business, content being handled and the governing laws. These details are crucial for a beginner to know investment management better.
Unit III elaborates on securities analysis -the fundamental & technical analysis and includes a discussion on the financial and non-financial parameters to judge a company's performance.
Unit IV discusses Portfolio Management. This unit has one chapter that discusses Portfolio Management and this is the longest chapter in the book, of 150 pages. The chapter begins with definitions of important terms being used in the chapter. For each theory which is explained, a practical example is given to understand the theory better. The style of writing this chapter looks more studentfriendly and proceeds with the assumption that the reader has very minimal knowledge of investments thus building concepts from the scratch.
The last unit of the book - Unit V talks about management of financial derivatives. This chapter talks about options, futures and swaps briefly. While the content is good to start for a beginner, for someone looking for a detailed description on the methods and the ways to calculate them, this book may not be of much help.
Overall the book has been written in simple English and is easy to comprehend. For a concept like investment management which is considered tricky and difficult as a subject, this book can really help beginners to master it. It is not highly priced like most of the international books on the subject. Besides this, for anyone who is generally keen to gain an understanding of the fundamentals of investment management, the book is a good read.

Kirti Sharma, Manager- Accounts, Vatika Limited, Gurgaon 122002.

Jay Arthur, Lean Six Sigma Demystified, A self-Teaching Guide, New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 2007. 349pp. Rs. 325

The world economy in the present millennium is experiencing significant changes and business enterprises are struggling to increase productivity and profitability. In order to boost productivity and in turn profitability, "Lean Six Sigma" is a tool that could to dramatic improvements in these areas.
The book as the title suggests, aims to demystify or in other words simplify this tool so that business enterprises could not only comprehend but also implement the same successfully. As it is a self-teaching guide, the author has ensured that anybody reading the book is would be able to understand it easily. The book is divided into 12 chapters and gives a comprehensive overview of "Lean Six Sigma" in a lucid manner.
The first three chapters focus on explaining the need to implement "Lean Six Sigma", the focus of improvement, how dramatic improvements could be achieved in speed, quality and profitability. Further the Toyota Production System, which is "Lean Production", is explained to prove the point that lean production has an edge over mass production and companies can remain competitive in spite of the onslaught from Chinese manufactured goods. Chapter 3 elucidates the use of Excel (MS office) and QI Macros for "Lean Six Sigma".
Chapter 4 deals with reducing defects with Six Sigma, wherein the 4-50 rule, usage of QI Macros to analyze the data, is explored. Majority of chapters focus on key issues like the Dirt 30 process - analysis of thirty rejected transactions after implementing new software to determine the root cause, how variation is reduced with Six Sigma and sustaining improvement. The chapter titled ‘Making Lean Six Sigma Successful’ is an essential read for every practitioner, as it addresses all those issues that one faces for successful adoption of the tool.
The statistical tools necessary for "Lean Six Sigma" like variance analysis, determining sample sizes, etc. have also been explained.
Overall the book makes a sincere effort to demystify the "Lean Six Sigma", so that not only implementation but also acceptance and subsequent adoption of the tool become a less painful process.

Dr. Durgamohan, Program Director (MSc.& BBA ) and Professor, Institute for International Management and Technology, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.

Newman, Jerry, My Secret Life on the McJob. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Companies, 2007. 201pp. Rs. 250

My Secret Life on the McJob is authored by Jerry Newman who has had an experience of around three decades as a professor for business courses. In around 200 pages, the book presents a reflection of bounty of experiences gathered during a 14 months covert operation by the author, spanning across 7 fast food restaurants. The book is a serious blue print on understanding the cultural Web both at the macro and the micro level, within an organization. The book brings forth a very interesting discussion on profiles of managers and staff and offers six "Supersized Management Principles" that can be implemented by managers for effective management of human resource thereby precipitating productivity. The book runs like a novel with various characters, from various fast food chains, interacting with the author. Each anecdote revolves around an extremely vivid account of the shop floor and offers a reflection about some significant aspect of life at work. These lessons are generic in nature and hence implementable by people across industries, irrespective of the positions they hold in the organization. The book makes an important disclosure on the significance of employee-recognition and training for inducing high level of motivation and employees' self worth.
The Book is divided into eight chapters with creative nomenclatures. Overall they deal with important issues like cultural diversities and its relevance towards understanding the management of large corporations, understanding the complexities of high employee turnover and ways to minimize the same. The book ends with the chapter title "Reflections from Fast Food" where the author amalgamates his learning from all the seven fast food restaurants and draws similarities with jobs of varied nature and difficulties on each job (for employees and managers). Overall the book accounts for practical learning, which is very scalable in nature and can include industries outside the fast food world. The book touches upon core issues of human values, complexities and interconnect dynamics.
The book is a fun read for students who wish to enter the retail industry, the hospitality industry or the HR (human resource) department. The book offers reflections for academicians teaching subjects like Career Planning because it offers management inputs through real life experiences from the shop floor.

Dr. Meghna Rishi, Associate Professor, Institute for International Management and Technology, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.

Bir Singh, Sales Promotion Management, New Delhi: Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2006, 480pp. Rs. 300

kThe book focuses on a specialized paper of the Marketing discipline. The target readers are MBA students and other Post Graduate students. The book revolves around two key words "sales" and "promotion". The book comprises of 13 chapters and within them various interesting topics have been discussed, which are well connected with the title of the book. These include promotional mix, personnel selling, consumer behaviour, sales strategy, channel sales and promotion, trade dealings etc. These topics are sequenced logically to get a strong understanding of the subject.
The first two chapters deal with the basics of sales promotion, promotion mix and personnel selling. These are focussed on building the initial plot. The next two chapters deal with the consumer behaviour, understanding of which is essential for sales. The fifth chapter deals with the strategy of sales planning. The next two chapters deal with the human resource aspect pertaining to sales personnel. Chapters 8 and 9 discuss sales promotion in terms of evaluation and product decision. The next chapter deals with some special topics of sales promotion which are referred as ‘secrets’ and these concentrate on topics like relationships, responsibilities, role of women, sales team management etc. The next chapter ponders on channel sales while the last two chapters discuss the promotional strategies and trade dealings.
The book is targeted on the Post Graduate students and therefore a right blend of theory and practice is put together so as to provide an optimal reading solution. The book offers a discussion of various important theories and models like AIDAS. The practical examples have not been limited to the Indian context. The author also puts together his rich industry experience of banking and rural marketing.

Gaurav Tripathi, Assistant Professor, Institute for International Management and Technology, Gurgaon, India.

V. Gangadhar, Security Analysis and Portfolio Management, New Delhi: Anmol Publications Pvt. Limited., 2008. 156pp. Rs. 120

The author of this book, Dr. Gangadhar is presently the Professor of Commerce and Business Management in Warangal and has been teaching commerce and business management since 1975. He owes a rich academic experience. Needless to say this book reflects his insight into the concepts, which, in the book, have been simplified to the core. He has used his teaching experience in a proficient manner to create a book which is easily understood by the target audience especially students.
The book has twelve chapters spread across 135 pages and each chapter picks up one concept and discusses it. It covers fundamental and technical analysis, efficient market theory, portfolio analysis and managements, portfolio selection problems and process along with the relevant theories and construction of optimal portfolio, portfolio investment process including formula plans for investment, measurement of portfolio performance, concept of mutual funds and its types, concept and components of derivatives, futures-commodity, financial & stock index and last but not the least options and swaps.
Chapters are small, have formulae, short questions and essay questions at the end, which could be useful for teachers to set up exam papers and for students to assess their learning. While the content of the book is very good to start for a beginner this book may not be very useful for a detailed understanding of the methods and the ways to calculate them.
The book has been written in simple English, is easy to comprehend and is very reasonably priced. However there could be some typographical errors which readers may come across. It can be used as a ready reckoner for security analysis concepts. The book is a good read for any finance professional trying to understand the basics of security analysis.

Kirti Sharma, Accounts Manager, Vatika Ltd., Gurgaon.