I have previously reviewed this book, but have recently read it again, and am reassessing my opinions on it. While I still hold most of my earlier opinions, I have a couple of other insights after the second reading.
First, the PowerPoint slides on the included CD are very useful, and are generally well done, but they do contain a number of errors, which should have definitely been caught.
Second, the book gets more mathematically oriented as it goes on, and by the time the reader gets to about Chapter 9, the book makes so many assumptions about mathematical background (that may not be safely assumed, even in Business schools) that the example problems and, more importantly, explanations given, are very difficult to grasp: the chapter on forecasting is the peak of indecipherability. Some problems will just say something like 'using calculus...' and then show what happened as a result (this is especially true in the PowerPoint slides, by the way). What I am saying is that people who have recently had advanced calculus and statistics won't have a problem, but anyone who has been away from higher math for a couple of years will struggle.
Third, many of the case studies, while very well written and illuminating, are clearly taken from company specific corporate public relations fodder. In other words, they frequently read like propaganda. Don't get me wrong, I very much like the case studies, they just seem a bit stilted, though frequently they are the strongest part of a chapter.
Fourth, the book is absolutely strewn with buzzwords. I understand the needs to use specific terms to define specific concepts, and these authors are far from being alone in this misdeed, but sometimes speaking clear English actually helps a student understand the information. I absolutely draw the line when the authors call 'eyeballing' a line on a graph "Ocular Heuristic Approximation" (OHA). (Just a tip for the authors before they write the next edition.)
Finally, the book is filled with color and expensive printing tricks throughout, like color type, inset boxes, lots of color graphs and charts (some of which are redundant), and the like. My point here is that this stuff, while generally nice to look at is not value added, and dramatically raises the price of the book (mine was $135.00) with no increase in value to the students. For Mr. Chase and the rest of the authors: read your own book. Understand what the consumer (in this case students) want and need, and write that book. Don't fill a book with tons of color and fancy typographical tricks and drive the price through the roof. There are many other Operations Management books available for half the price and I recommended a couple of specific titles in my course critique. The book may look nice, but it isn't worth this price.
In summation, I now give this book three stars. It is very comprehensive, and there is a lot of good information between it's covers. If you can grasp the advanced math, put up with the buzzwords, and deal with paying $135 for a single book, this really isn't too bad.
I was very displeased with bookbestdeal. I had ordered and paid for a hardback version of the book and I received a paperback version. I went to class and also discovered that our school had listed the wrong version of the book and that I would really nead the ninth edition. I contacted bookbestdeal immediately and they basically stated that it wasn't their problem and that they would not accept a return. Now I am forced to sell the book myself in order to recoupe the money I have lost. Very unprofessional. I will never purchase from them again!