Advanced Management Accounting

There is no doubt that Kaplan is one of the leaders (if not the preeminent scholar) in his field. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to do any reasonable paper or research concerning the balanced scorecard and not reference his work. That said, I have been in industry for more years than I care to remember, am a second year MBA accounting student at a fairly prestigious business school (no, not Harvard) with an Ivy league undergraduate education and I have received numerous academic awards. In reading Advanced Management Accounting (3rd Edition), I don't know if the author was paid by the word, the page or just preferred to use 10 words when 1 will do, but I found that the value of the book was diminished by the writing style. As I alluded to earlier, the ideas presented are excellent but I am left feeling like I just sat through a 2 hour movie story that took 3 1/2 hours to tell. It certainly would be easier to carry a 400 page book to class than this 794 page version. I personally feel that it would leave a bigger mark on the student actually reading the book.

The insights this book offers easily outweigh its shortcomings. Unfortunately, its shortcomings are considerable. Here are the principal ones: 1. At 798 pages, this book is so thick that it's hard to handle. In fact, it's 1.75 inches thick (4.5cm). This is partly because the paper is thick, stiff, and of poor quality. Even when opened in the middle, this book will not readily lie flat on your desk. So pull out your bulldog clips and paperweights, and prepare for a struggle. The publishers should have printed this book in a larger format - such as 8.5 x 11 inches - so that fewer pages would have been necessary. And they should also have used better quality paper. Why were they so cheap? Ironically, it seems that in an effort to squeeze out every last penny of profit, the publisher's managerial accountants prevented the proper publication of what is surely a landmark managerial accounting textbook. 2. Within some of the chapters, examples are provided to illustrate certain points. Unfortunately, reading these examples can be tedious and confusing, because the authors tend to overwhelm the reader with a deluge of data. Unless you take the time to enter the data into a spreadsheet, you won't get much benefit. These examples would have been far more effective if the authors had presented only the most essential data in several short tables, interspersed with comments. Bite-sized chunks of data are more easily absorbed, allowing readers to grasp the main points without being overwhelmed. Of course, complexity is to be expected among the end-of-chapter problems and case studies. 3. The writing style is mostly fluid, succinct, and clear, though some readers may find the vocabulary too advanced, and the sentences too lengthy. But reading books of this complexity can be good mental exercise for anyone aspiring to managerial competence. Unfortunately, in some sections of the book, the writing gets bogged down with poorly constructed sentences and pointless verbosity. This is puzzling, as one would normally expect the writing to be consistently precise and succinct by the third edition of an esteemed textbook such as this. The publisher should have assigned an editor to ensure readability, eliminate grammar errors, and present all data in the most effective format. Recognizing the invaluable insights this book offers, and its mostly clear explanations of complex topics, I would like to give this book 5 stars. But I'm giving it just four stars because of its shortcomings. It is disappointing that the publishers failed to invest sufficient effort to realize this book's full potential. However, despite its deficiencies, this book is very insightful and well worth reading, if you're interested in honing your managerial accounting skills. Paul Francis Musgrave, author of Indispensable Marketing Strategies - How to Outwit Your Competition, Attract and Retain Customers, and Multiply Your Profits - Powerful Marketing Strategy Secrets for Profitable Small Busin

MBA students alike may not even have the patient to read through it. But, as a management consultant in China ( i used to work for 2 of big 4 accounting firms, and now working as a freelance to help local companies to solve their managerial costing problems), this book is my primary reference for my work. I applied ideas in this book helping my clients building ABC and transfer pricing and costing control models. When you really need to solve true business problems (rather than reading in the school), you will find this is "the" book. In my view, you have to read Kaplan and Cooper's staff if you want to get some true knowledge about managerial accounting.

This book not classic. It contains chapters deal with subjects like performance evaluation and incentives in depth and by using advanced models. It also deals with ABC & ABM by using simle examples.

quisiera comprar el libro, tengo muy buena referencia del autor, y sus ideas tiene amplia aplicacion. Puedo girar dinero para comprarlo, por favor expliqueme la manera de realizar la compra sin tarjeta de credito. Por favor constestar a la brevedad