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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Read for a novice
Review: As a novice in the field and a first year MBA student, I found it very easy to read, and even easier to understand. Great emphasis is placed on Case studies, which in my view gives the book a practical edge.Unfortunately it is very focussed on the American market. Yet it's information should be applicable even the markets of Developing Countries
Rating: 
Summary: The Text Poorly Explains the Mathmatical Formulas
Review: Let me say that I am an Mechanical Engineer with 15 years experience, and possess a MS.I work in quality engineering (test design). My exposure to this text was in a recent MBA class. Positives: The text, in each chapter, does a respectable job describing how OM applies in the various workplace environments. Though it is more manufacturing oriented, the service sector is addressed. Also, many of the problems at the end of the chapters are quite good. Negatives: First the book is written by college professors. What more needs to be said! Due to this fact, I believe the main problem of the book lies.This is not a subject which can be taught or written about unless you have some significant real-life experience. In the latter part of the book the chapters pertaining to forcasting,aggregate planning,inventory control,and material planning,the mathmatical models were poorly explained that study groups had to be formed and the professor, to his credit, devised some alternative approaches which were more realistic. The engineers and accountants in the study groups were a valuable asset to some students due to their math backgrounds. Most students in the class who came from various backgrounds; medical and business were lost/confused. The primary problem was not being able to understand how the models worked and applied to the material. Many of the students commented that they just gave up trying to understand the material, and mindlessly plugged values into the various formulas. Granted, many of these models are worked out on Excel programs in the business arena, but for one to understand their meaning, in an educational setting,you need to do the preliminary organization and calculations. I correlate this with a 3rd grade student "learning" their multiplication tables with a calculator.What have you really learned?
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Operations Management Book
Review: This is an excellent text for a graduate or advanced undergraduate course on operations management. The ninth edition is very comprehensive; however I recommend you get the most current (tenth) edition in which the authors have emphasized recent innovations in e-commerce and the internet. The text is well written, with less obfuscation than most books of this genre. The organization is quite good, with numerous graphs, charts and photos to illustrate the thrust of the subject matter. I really like the excellent applicable case studies cited as examples in the text. These really helped with comprehension on the material. The CD has some expanded spreadsheets, presentations for the various chapters, and miscellaneous other items of interest. Candidly, I have really not used the CD much, but it is a nice resource to have. Detractors for the book include the degree of statistical background and comprehension that students are presumed to have when they begin using the book (and the relatively poor mathematical explanations given for various formulas), the excessive price of the book, and the lack of clarity of some of the illustrations. Overall, this is a good book, and I would recommend it, especially to a student with a strong mathematical background.
Rating:
Summary: Operations Management for Competitive Advantage Review
Review: This was my first exposure to operations management, as a senior MBA student; though I am familiar with many of the concepts from earlier coursework in statistics and accounting. I found the text to be well written and easy to understand. The sample problems within the chapters were straight forward and easy to follow. Having taking this class as a summer course, I was able to read the majority (75%) of the textbook within a 4-week period easily. The only drawback may be in how the actual theory pertains to real life models. I would recommend this text for anyone who is new to the field as the overview is excellent. A background in statistics and accounting (at least from coursework standpoint) would also be helpful in comprehending the material.
Rating:
Summary: Operations Management for Competitive Advantage Review
Review: This was my first exposure to operations management, as a senior MBA student; though I am familiar with many of the concepts from earlier coursework in statistics and accounting. I found the text to be well written and easy to understand. The sample problems within the chapters were straight forward and easy to follow. Having taking this class as a summer course, I was able to read the majority (75%) of the textbook within a 4-week period easily. The only drawback may be in how the actual theory pertains to real life models. I would recommend this text for anyone who is new to the field as the overview is excellent. A background in statistics and accounting (at least from coursework standpoint) would also be helpful in comprehending the material.
Rating:
Summary: Good Operations Management Text
Review: Used this book in an undergraduate supply chain management class. I found the book to be well written and enjoyable to read. Chapters are not overly long and the book moves a long at a good pace. Some of the concepts will make more sense and be easier to get through if you have had some exposure to statistics. There is some math, not a lot, but enough to trip up students that are not math savvy. Most of the book concentrates on manufacturing, though it does also touch on the service sector. Case studies are OK, I just remember American companies, and most sounded like propaganda.
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