Game Theory at Work: How to Use Game Theory to Outthink and Outmaneuver Your Competition

by James D. Miller

Book Overview

An easy-to-follow, non-technical approach to using game theory in every business battle

Game theory has become entrenched in today's business world. It has also often required oppressive and incomprehensible mathematics. Game Theory at Work steers around math and pedagogy to make this innovative tool accessible to a larger audience and allow all levels of business to use it to both improve decision-making skills and eliminate...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071400206
• ISBN13: 9780071400206
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Interesting Review

The book has been misunderstood and so was the author. This book is about strategy and should not be confused with ethics. A large number of decisions that are made in daily life are not always morally correct but they are still strategic. The author was honest and outspoken. This is something that should be appreciated and not criticized. This book is people who just want to enjoy a good read of strategy and not start a theological analysis. My sincere wishes and respect for the author.

Easy to understand intro to game theory in the real world

Forget the reviewers who panned it, they do not seem to even begin to understand the premises of game theory. Game theory is not about morality, it is about how a totally rational entity that wants to maximize his payoffs should act. This book has a lot of useful insights and is very easy to read.

Smart. Relevant. Entertaining.

Market situations are everywhere: when you look for a job, when you buy insurance, when you shop, when you date, when you negotiate. Miller shows you how to play markets to your advantage; how to make better choices. Also, Miller's Game Theory approach is like a mirror that makes it easier for you to see the assumptions that other people are making about you. You learn about yourself, about how other people perceive you. These are keys to success in work and in life.I have to say I had high expectations when I picked up this book. Miller's Ph.D. advisors included a Nobel Laureate economist who helped invent Game Theory, and America's most prolific legal genius, Judge Posner.What Professor Miller's astral credentials don't prepare you for is the fun. I had a blast reading Game Theory at Work. Miller had me cracking up page after page. And there's remarkably little fluff, it's so densely packed with ideas and concrete examples. You'll hesitate to put the book down before finishing it - especially if you are impatient - because you'll want to start putting the life-changing approach of Game Theory to work right away. I found it so relevant to so many things in my life. Miller's Game Theory at Work gives you an edge.

An easily underststood and enjoable introduction

"Game Theory at Work" provides a good way to understand both the basics of the theory and how it works in the real world.Although there can be a great deal of number crunching involved in game theory, Miller keeps this to a bare minimum and, thus, makes this book very accessible. At the same time, his interesting examples make the book enjoyable. Many of the examples are from how game theory can be used to explain what has occurred in history, such as why communism fails because of its ignorance of game theory (as well as ignorance of other parts of economics). Other examples are of how you can use game theory, such as in how to align your employees' interests with your own.Miller also inserts humor on occasion, which, unfortunately, another reviewer completely misunderstood as arrogance.One must remember that game theory, as well as many other economic theories, is in part based on assuming that people will always make rational decisions, which, of course, does not always occur. Nevertheless, if you are interested in learning about the basics of game theory and how it is at work in the world, then this easily understood book is for you.

Entertaining and Practical Book

This book was an excellent read. It provided some very useful food for thought. Miller gave a fresh perspective on the Game Theory and how to apply it to the real world. For someone who is not that familiar with this theory, the author was able to apply the concept to some very practical concepts. The humor helped to make this an enjoyable experience. I have suggested my friends in business to read this as well as my students in my Economics courses. The author has convinced me to apply the theory when asking for my next pay raise.