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Game Theory at Work: How to Use Game Theory to Outthink and Outmaneuvar Your Competition
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 potentially lethal uncertainty.
This proven tool requires everyone in an organization to look at the competition, guage his or her own responses to their actions, and then establish an appropriate strategy. Game Theory at Work will help business leaders at all levels improve their overall performance in:
Negotiating Decision making Establishing strategic alliances Marketing Positioning Branding Pricing318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 13, 2003
26 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 28, 2021
"if you end up enjoying this book, it’s not because I wrote it for the purpose of making you happy. I wrote it to maximize my own payoff. I don’t care, in any way, about your welfare. It’s just that the capitalist system under which books are produced in the United States creates incentives for me to seriously attempt to write a book that customers will enjoy and perhaps even benefit from reading."
I read this over several months in small chunks � the structure of the book is quite amenable to that strategy. Miller applies key ideas from Game Theory to topics in enterprise, investing, and organisational management in an accessible, non-technical style.
The book delivers on what it promises and contains interesting scenarios to illustrate different results in Game Theory. However, it isn't exactly a gripping read and fails to flow between (sub)sections. As a technically-oriented reader, I found it leaned too much towards listing scenarios, for my liking. I would have preferred more general concepts about how Game Theoretic results apply to business, paired with more applications of mechanism design.
I read this over several months in small chunks � the structure of the book is quite amenable to that strategy. Miller applies key ideas from Game Theory to topics in enterprise, investing, and organisational management in an accessible, non-technical style.
The book delivers on what it promises and contains interesting scenarios to illustrate different results in Game Theory. However, it isn't exactly a gripping read and fails to flow between (sub)sections. As a technically-oriented reader, I found it leaned too much towards listing scenarios, for my liking. I would have preferred more general concepts about how Game Theoretic results apply to business, paired with more applications of mechanism design.
May 10, 2014
Some interesting food for thought, if at times a little too close for comfort to being "a guide to being an effective sociopath".
Related to Richard Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene", which talks about how behaviours can arise and understanding how this happens. Though Dawkins goes to great pains to make it clear that when he makes a statement that seems to be making a moral justification ("X should do Y"), he is doing so not to advocate a particular behaviour, but to say that the science predicts the behaviour. Miller doesn't make such disclaimers and the result is a bit uncomfortable.
Most of the book revolves around creating models of real-life situations that are simple enough to apply theory to them. This is interesting and useful and will help add to your problem-solving bag of tricks, but a model can't be better than its assumptions. Many of the ideas are of questionable use since the world isn't made up of neatly-isolated systems where everyone behaves rationally.
That said, there were quite a few interesting and useful ideas.
Related to Richard Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene", which talks about how behaviours can arise and understanding how this happens. Though Dawkins goes to great pains to make it clear that when he makes a statement that seems to be making a moral justification ("X should do Y"), he is doing so not to advocate a particular behaviour, but to say that the science predicts the behaviour. Miller doesn't make such disclaimers and the result is a bit uncomfortable.
Most of the book revolves around creating models of real-life situations that are simple enough to apply theory to them. This is interesting and useful and will help add to your problem-solving bag of tricks, but a model can't be better than its assumptions. Many of the ideas are of questionable use since the world isn't made up of neatly-isolated systems where everyone behaves rationally.
That said, there were quite a few interesting and useful ideas.
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October 13, 2022Although technically Game Theory is a branch of mathematics, its applications are as wide as biology, politics, war and nuclear strategy, even in the game chess and poker.
James Miller, being an economist, rightly covered its scope in business. All type of businesses. Stock markets, auctions, negotiations, human resource management and as well as pricing strategies.
Despite being many critics of game theory, like its limitations, fragility of Equilibria and failure understand how individuals react in dynamic interactions, the book of professor Miller gives a good insight of the concept and its practical application in business.
What I like best in the book GAME THEORY AT WORK, is its readability. Simple language, relevant chapter divisions and subject-wise paragraph to convey the whole idea behind the narrative.
How to Use Game Theory to Outthink and Outmaneuver Your Competition: the book caption said. What of your competition also read Dr. Miller’s book?
James Miller, being an economist, rightly covered its scope in business. All type of businesses. Stock markets, auctions, negotiations, human resource management and as well as pricing strategies.
Despite being many critics of game theory, like its limitations, fragility of Equilibria and failure understand how individuals react in dynamic interactions, the book of professor Miller gives a good insight of the concept and its practical application in business.
What I like best in the book GAME THEORY AT WORK, is its readability. Simple language, relevant chapter divisions and subject-wise paragraph to convey the whole idea behind the narrative.
How to Use Game Theory to Outthink and Outmaneuver Your Competition: the book caption said. What of your competition also read Dr. Miller’s book?
April 1, 2020
It's an easy read on a quite hard-to-understand topic (in my opinion). The author has laid out different frameworks in Game Theory and explain each by giving out examples taking place in businesses and the workplace. But after several chapters, the author starts to talk about problems that businesses may encounter when going into a new market or the various strategies they can take to fight against their competitors. They're very useful and fun to read but to me, it seems to be a bit off the tangent. Overall, it's a quick book to read and let you understand the terminology. I do pick up a couple of useful tips like how to get your salary raised and what you should do to compete with new entrants.
January 1, 2023
While it focuses primarily on game theory applied to business, Game Theory At Work is also a very good introduction to general game theory concepts and origins.
This makes it a great start for further study, while providing practical applications of concepts to work decisions.
This makes it a great start for further study, while providing practical applications of concepts to work decisions.
December 17, 2019
Good textbook for a Game Theory course.
June 28, 2020
Book explains various game theory and how it is to be played. Often what might have happened but never did determines outcome of the game.
August 29, 2021
This book tells about how to make decisions.
December 13, 2022
Very manipulative! nice!
January 30, 2024
Very good for learning the basics of game theory. I enjoyed the examples and practice questions that were provided.
December 28, 2013
Seems mostly about financial issues and how to do in the competition at make the most profit out of your customers, though also does touch on employees and employers also.
Miller appears to be a hard-core capitalist and has very little positive to say about 'anti trust' legislation, taxation or governments in general. However through the game theory it is also explained that anti-trust, anti cartel rules are mostly irrelevant. Most relevant to the UK - If you know it is in your competitors best interests to raise prices, they you can too, and may even benefit from doing it first.
As you would expect, Miller is also not that keen on the socialist dream of communism, very succinctly explaining why communal-ism will always fail.
He is very cynical generally, which I confess appeals to me.
Explanations of basic game theory, prisoners dilemma, Nash equilibrium is clear and understandable as are all his arguments - though I found a few of the latter to be wanting and lacking in rigour.
Overall though an entertaining enough book on a fairly dry subject.
Miller appears to be a hard-core capitalist and has very little positive to say about 'anti trust' legislation, taxation or governments in general. However through the game theory it is also explained that anti-trust, anti cartel rules are mostly irrelevant. Most relevant to the UK - If you know it is in your competitors best interests to raise prices, they you can too, and may even benefit from doing it first.
As you would expect, Miller is also not that keen on the socialist dream of communism, very succinctly explaining why communal-ism will always fail.
He is very cynical generally, which I confess appeals to me.
Explanations of basic game theory, prisoners dilemma, Nash equilibrium is clear and understandable as are all his arguments - though I found a few of the latter to be wanting and lacking in rigour.
Overall though an entertaining enough book on a fairly dry subject.
May 5, 2012
Cursory review of the subject, no mathematical underpinnings or equations. Some good pointers on how to apply the theory in real life.
March 14, 2009
Very interestring. Worth the read for those that like game theory.
September 30, 2011
among the best books on this exciting (but difficult) topic!
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