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MBA In A Day
®
What You Would Learn
at Top-Tier Business Schools
(If You Only Had the Time!)
Steven Stralser, Ph.D.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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More Praise for MBA In A Day
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“
Steve Stralser is a unique talent. It is unusual to meet people who are both highly
professional as well as generous with their knowledge. Not only is Professor
Stralser’s advice invaluable for business professionals, but those in the arts who
are more focused on their creative endeavors would benefit from reading MBA In
A Day
®
to help strengthen their business skills.”
—Bobi Leonard, CEO, Arcara Enterprises, Inc.
“Steve’s book is a valuable asset to anyone needing to avoid the pitfalls of business, be
they a small business owner, a physician, a lawyer, or just about anyone who deals
with business. Just because you have not had the opportunity to study for a formal
MBA, why be at a disadvantage in the business world? In just a few days of quality
reading time you will level the playing field. Let your own brainpower do the rest.”
—George Reiss, MD, Clinical Instructor, Mayo Clinic;
Eye Physician, Phoenix Coyotes Professional Hockey Club
“Professor Stralser’s MBA In A Day
®
contains insights that are incredibly valuable

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“Professor Stralser has been teaching MBA principles for years in top-tier business
schools. His MBA In A Day
®
treatment of these same principles is your ‘gradua-
tion’ into the world of business!”
—R. Glenn Williamson, Partner, Nest Ventures LLC,
providers of early stage financing and equity
“You could read this book in a day, but the nonbusiness professional can go back
and refer to it every day!”
—Barry Moltz, Author, You Need to Be a Little Crazy:
The Truth about Starting and Growing Your Business
“Easy to read, highly practical, and comprehensive in nature. I highly recommend
this book to both experienced and new business owners alike.”
—Scott Gabehart, MIM, CBA, Business Valuation Consultant
“Professor Stralser has the ability to impart entrepreneurial attitudes and processes.
His teachings give one a solid guide to incorporating business techniques into pro-
fessional practice. For those who have no business experience, he explains things
in understandable terms and for those who understand business, he reinforces
what they have been doing all along.”
—Martin Blume, DO, MBA, Parkway Medical, PLC
“Dr. Stralser has provided physicians with a focused, structured, and comprehen-
sive resource for the business side of their practices—an area they have typically
managed by trial and error. His book is a valuable tool to help them maintain and
grow their bottom line.”
—Rick Nevins, MD, FAAFP, President,
Nevins & Associates Consulting
“Having recently benefited by being a ‘student’ in an MBA In A Day
®
seminar, I am

sential road map on how to navigate today’s complex health-care terrain. As more
nurses are looking beyond hospitals and exploring entrepreneurship, they will
find the fundamentals of business explained here. A must-read.”
—Carol E. Heiser, RN, MA, ND (Clinical Nursing Doctorate),
Clinical Education Specialist, Immersion Medical, Inc.
“MBA In A Day
®
has proven to be as essential in my daily practice as my stethoscope. I
wish I had had Professor Stralser’s book when I started my medical practice.”
—Robert S. Knight, MD, FAAFP, Medical Director,
Plumtree Family Health Center, LLC
“Professor Stralser’s book is an easy-to-understand guide about business for busy
professionals whose intense professional training missed important topics like
marketing, accounting, finance, and management.”
—Quinn Williams, Chair, Emerging Business and Venture
Capital Group, Greenberg Traurig, LLP
“In advising clients, I often get the sense that they do not have a good grasp of
how to manage their businesses or employees. Professor Stralser’s book is a
straightforward and invaluable primer that will assist readers in the development
and management of their businesses.”
—Charles S. Mishkind, Miller, Canfield,
Paddock and Stone, PLC
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“Dr. Stralser’s book, MBA In A Day
®
, provides a practical guide to understanding
basic business concepts. This valuable resource offers hands-on training for the
development of the skills needed to manage a small business or practice, such as
marketing and promotion, financial management, leadership skills, and informa-
tion technology, to name a few. A surefire way to build your business!”

firm. I could have used MBA In A Day
®
as it would have been incredibly valuable
in understanding and applying basic concepts to aid me in making our law prac-
tice more successful.”
—Mort Scult, Partner, Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP
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MBA In A Day
®
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TLFeBOOK
MBA In A Day
®
What You Would Learn
at Top-Tier Business Schools
(If You Only Had the Time!)
Steven Stralser, Ph.D.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright © 2004 by Steven Stralser. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise,
except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without
either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the
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to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best

Printed in the United States of America.
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To my father, Harold, a hero in many ways
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Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
About the Author xxi
SECTION I:
PEOPLE, MANAGEMENT, AND POLICY
Chapter 1
Human Resources 3
Chapter 2
Organizational Behavior 18
Chapter 3
Leadership and Team Building 38
Chapter 4
Ethics 57
Chapter 5
Negotiation 71
xi
Contents
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SECTION II:
MONEY: ECONOMICS, FINANCE, AND ACCOUNTING
Chapter 6
Accounting and Finance 97
Chapter 7

this challenging and rewarding achievement—but this book
is where you will find, in basic, easy-to-understand language, MBA
concepts and principles that are presented in the gold standard of
business education throughout the world—the master of business
administration.
The story behind this book comes from my years teaching in a
full-time MBA program where I began to notice something I found
very interesting. Every semester, in addition to the traditional MBA
students who had taken time off from their corporate life to enroll in
the MBA program, I would find one or two students who were clearly
“outliers” to these mainstream corporate types—for example, a physi-
cian, an attorney, an executive director from a nonprofit organization,
or a small business owner or entrepreneur.
It did not take long to realize this trend was an indicator of an un-
derlying interest, and need, for these well-educated professionals—
well trained in the education of their profession—to learn about the
“business side” of their professional lives.
These non-business-trained professionals wanted to fill a gap and
learn business principles and concepts needed in their professional
practices but not taught in medical schools or other professional
schools such as law, engineering, architecture, veterinary, or other
highly specialized training programs.
I also realized that for every physician, attorney, architect, or en-
trepreneur who can take the time to enroll in an MBA program, there
are many more who are pressed for time and focused on the day-to-day
challenges of running a successful practice, operating a small business,
or launching a new venture but who would benefit from learning the
essential principles and concepts found in the coursework of an MBA
Preface
xv

“International, National, and Local Economics,” provides a vocabulary
of economic fundamentals to understand how nations, corporations,
and individuals behave in markets to efficiently apply and allocate
scarce resources and make their way through global economic systems.
Section III: Markets and Strategy explores the way organizations
read, adapt, and communicate with their customers, competitors, and
constituencies. In Chapter 8, “Marketing, Strategy, and Competitive
Analysis,” we review how organizations analyze their industry and their
competition and then develop the way they communicate with their
PREFACE
xvi
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target customers. Chapter 9, “Advertising and Promotion,” looks at the
specifics of companies’ communication with customers and clients.
Chapter 10, “Communications and Presentations,” presents principles
and concepts about an increasingly important part of managing a busi-
ness today—how to present our ideas and communicate effectively.
Section IV: Systems and Processes explores the key areas for orga-
nizations to implement their strategies and maintain competitiveness
and sustainability. Chapter 11, “Project Management,” explains how
managers can tackle specific projects from start to finish and efficiently
manage them. In Chapter 12, “Management Information Systems,” we
explore the increasingly important essentials of today’s cyber-environ-
ment and how technology can be harnessed to achieve organizational
excellence. Chapter 13, “E-Commerce and Uses of the World Wide
Web,” explores the use of the Web both as a means to communicate with
customers, clients, and constituencies and also as a tool for organiza-
tional efficiency and productivity. And finally, in a world where quality is
the key driver to market success and sustainability, Chapter 14, “Quality
Management Systems,” explores the concepts and principles of develop-

®
into the mar-
ket. Matthew Holt, Senior Editor, and Tamara Hummel, Michelle
Becker, and Mike Onorato, all at John Wiley & Sons, are a top-notch
team of publishing professionals to whom I am grateful for their be-
lief in the book and their collective support and energy in making its
publication possible.
Finally, I wish to express my thanks and appreciation to some
important women in my life: to my new bride, Rosemary, my love and
appreciation for signing up for an adventure and for being a great
Acknowledgments
xix
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partner as that adventure in life together has been unfolding; to my
mother, Janice, whose memory includes teaching me how words and
writing are so important; to Deanne, for her love and support; to my
sister Carol for always being there with encouragement and love; and
to my daughters Amy and Marcy—you have made me so proud of
your own achievements both as moms and wives, and as successful
professional women!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xx
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S
teven Stralser received his Ph.D. from the University of Michi-
gan, where he taught marketing and marketing strategy. He
holds a BS in marketing from the University of Arizona and an
MBA from Arizona State University.
He is currently Clinical Professor and Managing Director of the
Global Entrepreneurship Center at Thunderbird: The Garvin School of