The Portable MBA, 4th Edition

Rating:
Summary: Great book a must for every young manager or executive.
Review: During the tech boom in 2000 I snared a job with a Fortune 500 technology company. I was bright but as a history major my business knowledge was limited to what I had in econ 101 and CNN MoneyWatch. Needless to say I needed some help. Boom this book was recommended and I went from lost to in command in a matter of months. Written by the professors at UVA's highly regarded Darden School of Business this book covers all aspects of an MBA from Marketing to finance and then some. For all you who want to be a VP someday I hardily endorse this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great book a must for every young manager or executive.
Review: During the tech boom in 2000 I snared a job with a Fortune 500 technology company. I was bright but as a history major my business knowledge was limited to what I had in econ 101 and CNN MoneyWatch. Needless to say I needed some help. Boom this book was recommended and I went from lost to in command in a matter of months. Written by the professors at UVA's highly regarded Darden School of Business this book covers all aspects of an MBA from Marketing to finance and then some. For all you who want to be a VP someday I hardily endorse this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not even a beginner's level
Review: I buy a lot of books. In general I average about $600/year in books. I hold an MSEE and an MBA. So I buy a lot of business and technical books.
This is the first time that I feel that a book I baught was so worthless that I felt it my duty to write about it.
Sometimes it is hard to keep voluminous books about a particular area. So I thought I could buy a condensé that just reminds me what I need to remember if need be.
Well, I got the wrong book. This is the lowest level book I have come across and I am surprised it's writen by so called "eminent" professors and endorsed by so called "Harvard business school" professors.
A blunt breach of credibility for those who wrote this leaflet and those who endorsed it.

Rating:
Summary: Not Recommend
Review: I found this book lacking many of the key MBA ideas, it was too fundamental. As I try to reference it for information, I often can not find relevant information.

Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to the basic concepts of an MBA education
Review: I purchased this text as an introduction to basic fundamentals of an MBA education. It met that purpose by providing succinct overviews of the functional areas. If a reader wants a more in-depth look at specific functional areas, this is not the book to buy. I will also comment that I was confused on a case discussion in the finance section and one of the Authors, was very helpful and answered my questions on NPV, through an e-mail. That is why Darden is known as having the best MBA professors.

Rating:
Summary: Very poor quality, poorly written book
Review: I will strongly advise not to purchase this book. The book is a superficial look at the topics covered in an MBA program.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent coverage of the basic concepts of an MBA course
Review: The book is outstanding and different from the pack of MBA texts, because the authors do not limit themselves to repeat classic concepts. On the contrary, they bring up challenging concepts in accordance with the dynamic of today's globalized business environment.

Rating:
Summary: Portable MBA is a real winner!
Review: This book gives the reader a comprehensive overview of the most modern and up-to-date concepts of business management. I've never taken any management courses in college (in fact I'm a high school dropout)but, this book helped me to be able to communicate with top management and speak the language of business. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: A scratch on the surface, or not even that
Review: This book is totally void of content. The authors state the obvious over and over again, and never get to saying anything meaningful.

Rating:
Summary: Good MBA Reference Book
Review: This is a good BASIC LEVEL reference book for MBA studies. It shows the basic theories e.g. in strategy, finance, accounting etc. If you need deeper & focused knowledge of any of those areas, maybe you should buy another book (e.g. Portable MBA in Stretegy).