The Personal MBA Recommended Reading List

Category: Analysis

2007 Edition: Revised and Updated

by Josh Kaufman

Business schools don’t have a monopoly on worldly wisdom. If you're serious about learning advanced business principles, the Personal MBA can help. The Personal MBA recommended reading list is the tangible result of hundreds of hours of reading and research, and features only the very best books the business press has to offer. So skip the fancy diploma and $150,000 loan - you can get a world-class business education simply by reading these books.

To learn more about the Personal MBA, read the manifesto.

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Essentials of Accounting (9th Edition) by Robert N. Anthony and Leslie K. Breitner

When I picked up Essentials of Accounting, I was confused. This set of two booklets is a little over 100 pages combined – how could it possibly be a comprehensive accounting course?

The secret is in the design of the booklets. Essentials of Accounting teaches you accounting by having you actually work through the process of creating and analyzing accounting statements, a simple and relatively enjoyable way to learn an often confusing subject.

The first text contains samples of basic accounting statements: balance sheets, cash flow statements, journal entries, etc. The second booklet contains a double-sided set of fill-in-the-blank worksheets that guide you through analysis of the statements in the first book. After working through this book, you'll have a much better understanding of how businesses manage money.

(Discuss this book in the PMBA Member Forums)

The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Finance (2nd edition) by Robert A. Cooke

Like accounting, finance is a subject best understood by working through examples.

The thing that impresses me most about The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Finance is how enjoyable it is to read. Drawing on over thirty years of experience as a CPA, Cooke knows how to explain financial concepts clearly using non-technical language. In addition, he happens to be a master storyteller. Instead of assaulting the reader with a never-ending stream of formulas, Cooke uses stories and humor to illustrate how corporate finance works and why it is important to learn. The book is set up as a collection of twelve units, making it ideal for self-study.

The 2nd edition contains an additional chapter on the function and role of auditors, an important subject in the wake of corporate accounting scandals and the introduction of Sarbanes-Oxley in the US.

(Tip: to get the most out of this book, work your way through Essentials of Accounting first - accounting knowledge will make it easier to focus on learning the financial concepts.)

(Discuss this book in the PMBA Member Forums)

How to Read a Financial Report by John A. Tracy

Since finance and accounting are such important and challenging parts of business, the better we understand them, the better off we’ll be. How to Read a Financial Report is a concise, well-written guide to navigating core business accounting reports: the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

In each chapter, Tracy is careful to explain how each statement is developed, how the statements relate to each other, and what each report tells you about the health of the business in question.

After reading this book, you’ll be better equipped to understand the financial reports of any company, whether it's a publicly-traded business or your own firm.

(Discuss this book in the PMBA Member Forums)

Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master by Paul W. Farris, Neil T. Bendle, Phillip E. Pfeifer, and David J. Reibstein

Measuring the results of your business practices is critically important to your success. Marketing Metrics will help you understand your current business process and craft a set of metrics that will keep your attention on the most important issues facing your business.

Major topics include measuring customer perception, market share, competitive analysis, revenue, cost structure, profitability, awareness, trial, growth, repeat, cannibalization, brand equity, customer profitability, margin, market coverage, operations and logistics, price sensitivity, promotional activity, reach, frequency, impressions, website analytics.

As the proverbial saying goes, what gets measured gets managed. This book will help you measure everything in your business that matters. If you only read one book about business analytics, make it this one.

(Special thanks to PMBA member Tyler Martin for recommending this book.)

(Discuss this book in the PMBA Member Forums)

The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch

Would you like to learn how to get more done with less effort, eliminate wasteful activities, and sell more to your best customers? This book can show you how.

In The 80/20 Principle, Richard Koch thoroughly examines the “80/20” or “Pareto Principle” – the idea that, in any given context, "a minority of causes, inputs, or effort usually leads to a majority of the results, outputs, or rewards". This inherent nonlinearity is present in all aspects of life, and by paying attention to your efforts and results, you can identify major opportunities for improvement in every aspect of your life and business.

By identifying the critical 20% of causes and focusing time and resources on optimizing them, it is possible to realize enormous gains in productivity in relatively short order. While the 80/20 principle is typically used for sales, customer, or inventory analysis, Koch examines personal management applications as well, including priority setting and work/life balance.

Focusing on the 20% of efforts that create 80% of results is hard to do, but it can revolutionize your business and the quality of your life.

(Discuss this book in the PMBA Member Forums)

How to Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff

Every day, statistics are used to tell stories about what's happening in the world and in your business. The problem is that most of them are designed to mislead you.

How to Lie with Statistics is a truly timeless book: originally written in 1954, this book shows you how easy it to be mislead through statistical manipulation, giving you the knowledge necessary to intelligently question and understand the story behind the numbers.

Using stories and examples, Darrel Huff shows you how easy it is to be mislead by poorly crafted statistics, covering sample bias, improper use of averages, statistical significance, probable error, chart scale, distorted graphical proportion, lack of proper context, biased polling questions, correlation vs. causation, and unwarranted precision. While the examples are a bit old-fashioned, the principles are just as important today as they were 50 years ago.

(Tip: to learn how to calculate statistics using your own data, check out Principles of Statistics by M.G. Bulmer in the Business Reference category.)

(Discuss this book in the PMBA Member Forums)

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