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clearly declared at the outset, their constant reappearance in subsequent chapters (without any deepening investigation) gives the text a rather cyclical character. REFERENCES
Morrison, M. 2004. Rush to judgment: The lynching of Arthur Andersen & Co. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 15: 335375. OConnell, B. T. 2004. Enron.con: He that filches from me my good name . . . makes me poor indeed. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 15: 733749. Stigler, G. J. 1971. The theory of economic regulation. Bell Journal of Economic and Management Science, 2: 321. Tinker, T., & Puxty, T. 1995. Policing accounting knowledge: The market for excuses affair. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener. London: Chapman Hall. Watts, R. L., & Zimmerman, J. L. 1979. The demand for and the supply of accounting theories: The market for excuses. Accounting Review, 54: 273306.

Decision Making Using Game Theory: An Introduction for Managers, by Anthony Kelly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Reviewed by Deepak Malhotra, Harvard Business School, Boston.

This well-written and well-organized book provides a comprehensive overview of game theory and decision analysis. The writing is precise, the examples are interesting and relevant, and the analyses are thorough. As such, the book delivers on its promise to be a selfcontained, though by no means exhaustive, study of game theory (p. X). However, it is less certain whether the book is accessible to managers in the way the author hopes. Kelly notes that the book is primarily intended for those who work as managers (p. X), but it is unlikely that managers will find it particularly useful. This is not because game theory is irrelevant to managerial decision making; indeed, it is perhaps critically importanta point the author makes quite well. Rather, the problem is that the vast majority of managers will be unable to make their way through this highly technical book and to understand the analyses, ideas, and concepts contained in it. There is certainly an audience for this book, but perhaps not manag-

ers, many or most of whom will recoil at the sight of calculus, linear algebra, and pages replete with variables and equations. The interested reader will find that the book covers all of the material necessary for thoroughly understanding the fundamentals of game theory. If anything, the author errs on the side of providing too much depth and too much mathematical analysis; a managerial audience might expect and prefer less. Kelly begins with an overview of the topic and then provides a brief history of the field of game theory. The history is interesting, perhaps mostly to those who have studied game theory in the past and are familiar with the many names and ideas mentioned. The rest of the book is organized from the perspective of individuals who might deal with increasingly complex decision-making situations. In the first few chapters, Kelly deals with individual decision making, particularly emphasizing contexts in which there is risk or uncertainty. Using the idea of sequential decision making as a bridge, Kelly then shifts the focus of the book to decision making in two-player games. Here the difference between zero-sum and mixed-motive games is introduced, and each type of game is carefully considered. In particular, Kelly discusses the different varieties of mixed-motive games and considers applications of game theory to some traditional economic problems. The context is then made more complex with the consideration of repeated (rather than one-shot) games and, finally, with the analysis of games with multiple parties. Throughout the book, Kelly uses examples and illustrations that help link the game theory concepts being introduced to real-world decision problems that managers might face. The book ends with a chapter that discusses some of the critiques of game theory and provides the reader with a firmer grasp of when and how the tools of game theory might be particularly relevant and useful. The book requires a high degree of fluency with mathematics and statistics and a strong familiarity with the jargon of game theory. It moves at a very fast pace when introducing new terminology and working through mathematical analyses. Only a very small minority of managers even among those with MBAsare likely to overcome this hurdle. The problem, again, is not that the ideas are unimportant but that the

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language is one that most managers do not speak. Consider, for example, that most universities do not require any mathematics beyond one year of calculus, even for those students who major in economics. The same requirement holds for most MBA programs. This book, however, assumes a relatively strong working knowledge of mathematics and concepts that are not covered until much later, in more advanced courses. For example, it is not until students take a course in linear algebra that they first encounter the Lagrange method of partial derivatives. Most people have never taken such a class and are unfamiliar with this method. However, such tools are used as early as Chapter 2 of the book. The author does work through and teach all of the concepts that are introduced, but the treatment is likely to be too cursory for most readers. A key strength of the book is the authors use of examples to illustrate the concepts and to provide opportunities for the reader to test drive the newly acquired tools in interesting and meaningful managerial contexts. These examples also help support Kellys fundamental claim: game theory and decision analysis are important and perhaps critical for effective managerial decision making. Indeed, one wonders whether the entire book could be based around the examples; some simplification of the analytics would still be required, but a shift in focus from working through the calculus to working through the intuition and logic behind the analyses might do wonders for the readability of this book. In fact, many of the ideas contained in the book (e.g., backward induction, Nash equilibrium, risk aversion, etc.) are actually quite intuitive, but the authors overreliance on mathematics and rigorous analytics to convey the message makes it difficult for the reader to grasp the concepts. The reader would be well served if all of the chapters provided the intuition behind the concepts and analyses more carefully and thoroughly before diving into the mathematics. All of this is perhaps more an indictment of our education system (in which mathematics is underemphasized) than of this book, but such a perspective does not solve the problem for the author. Most managers will find the book to be a difficult read. Those who are able to do the math, however, may find it very useful. As such,

it is still an introduction to managers, but its largest audience might lie elsewhere. This book is perhaps most appropriate as a textbook for advanced undergraduates enrolled in a game theory course. The book is very well organized for such a course, and all of the relevant material is covered. The clarity and appropriateness of the examples might also make this a nice book for an MBA elective course in game theory, managerial decision making, or strategic decision making. Those who struggle in the MBA finance course may find it somewhat difficult, but those who are not repelled by graphs and equations will get a lot out of this book.

Democratic Management: The Path to Total Quality with Total Liberty and Equality, by Asim Sen. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2003.
Reviewed by Maxim Voronov, Columbia University, New York.

Asim Sens Democratic Management: The Path to Total Quality with Total Liberty and Equality is an impassioned and timely reminder of the intrinsic and inescapable links between business organizations and society. In the wake of the post-Enron/post-Worldcom era of finger pointing and quick fixes that fundamentally miss the systemic nature of the problem, Sen argues that one cannot truly transform business without fundamentally transforming social, political, and economic conditions within which business operates. He reaffirms the almost forgotten wisdom that capitalism (or any other system for that matter) cannot sustain itself indefinitely unless it satisfies the people who enact it. It must provide a total quality that Sen defines as all the materialistic and humanistic things that satisfy peoples needs and wants and that includes the quality, equality and liberty aspects of life that make most people happy (p. 3). In his most eloquent metaphor, Sen compares total quality to a three-legged stool, with quality, equality, and liberty being the three legs. He argues that the absence of any leg renders the quality partial, thus rendering a society unstable and prone to an eventual collapse. The previous paragraph highlights several noteworthy features of the book. It is extremely