As the half-term finals are over, there is in fact very little time to relax. My next batch of classes starts on Monday as I mentioned before. Next half-term is definitely going to be more excruciating.
If in the first half-term I had two classes, now I am going to have three. And two of them lean more on the quantitative side.
The classes I am going to have are:
- Financial Accounting II: Financial Accounting Choices
- Judgment/Uncertainty and Decisions
- Business Ethics
I anticipate a lot of problem cranking on the first two. This time I am going to do it right: problems first, reading – as time allows. The Business Ethics, is probably going to require a lot of ‘creative writing’. So definitely my plate is going to be filled significantly more.
Don’t forget about the Holidays season sneaking up on us just we speak. Certainly I will have to make a lot of tradeoffs, and most of them probably will be at the expense of my family.
Two of the professors for my classes have already put some information, mainly their respective syllabus, on the Blackboard. The Business Ethics is ‘slacking’ behind in that regard. Probably because that class starts on Thursday, so it’s almost a week ahead yet.
However the promptness of the professor of Judgment & Uncertainty was very important. We start on Monday and there is required textbook coming with the course. The book is very impressive:
- 4.7 pounds shipping weight
- 1090 pages
- list price $177.95
Of course, I googled around and found a new one for just above $70, including shipping. The only problem with it was that it was listed as International Edition. The disclaimer coming with it was as follows:
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What is an International Edition Textbook?
An international edition is a textbook which has been published in an international, non US market. They are generally printed using cheaper materials, and are softcover. The content itself is usually identical to the US version, so they can be a cheaper alternative. However, the resale value is less than a US version.
Be aware that an international edition does has a DIFFERENT ISBN than the US Version.
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I don’t know about others, but for me it’s been very important to have hardcover copy of a textbook in my previous MBA classes. I had to constantly shuffle different sets of textbooks and accompanying lecture notes and other handouts between the bag, my desk and coach at home, the classroom, the car. The paperback would not probably survive.
Last half-term I was ‘lucky’ enough to find a ‘cheap’ book for Microeconomics. That seller did not have any disclaimer; it was listed as new; there was return policy in place. So I felt that something might be different about the book, but I figured if it was something gross I would just return the book. Of course, I would loose learning time and some money on shipping it back and forth, but I took the bait. The book arrived. It was new, with some shelf wear signs and slightly crushed corners. That was not a big deal for me. The most impressive part was the watermark going diagonally across the front and back cover: Not for resale. And additional warning on the front of the book: These materials were provided free to an instructor for adoption consideration. Resale of these materials is prohibited.
Frankly, it was not a huge issue for me either. I was not the one who resold it. May be some financially strugling teacher’s assistant was trying to make an extra buck or two on a side. What might have been an issue, if the professor required to use the “econolab” materials associated with the book and available online. I probably would not be able to register for that under my name, as that copy could easily be associated with university professor level registration.
Since the textbook on Judgment & Uncertainty has accompanying CD with MS Excel custom spreadsheets (Decision Tools and Statistic Tools Suite, Palisade Corporation.) required for the course, I decided to not take a chance with international edition whatsoever.
Eventually I opted for the next best option from a reputable source, Amazon. It cost $125, including 2 day shipping. I expect to receive it on Saturday. As they say you get what you pay for. Still a reasonable saving from the list price and, incidentally, the price at the University’s Bookstore. By the way the book, apart from its physical and monetary traits mentioned above is titled:
Data Analysis and Decision Making with Microsoft Excel 3e Revised, (with CD-ROM and Decision Tools and Statistic Tools Suite) (Hardcover). ISBN-10: 0324662440;ISBN-13: 978-0324662443
Sounds like a good read to me. I am already anticipating many happy tet-a-tet hours with it in the weeks to come 
Except for the time, of course, when I will be pulled away by other contenders for my time: the books on Financial Accounting and Business Ethics. Do I even have to mention my wife and kids?
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