Operations Forensics: Business Performance Analysis Using Operations Measures and Tools
Richard Lai
The MIT Press
Investors and analysts often need to look into a firm’s operations more deeply than traditional financial statements and models allow. This book describes newly developed tools for using operations metrics to discern and influence the valuation of a firm. It is the first to present these techniques from a unified perspective: that of operations forensics, which looks at operations management not from the traditional point of view of a manager but from that of an investor or shareholder.

After a discussion of financial statements and the useful but incomplete insights they provide, the book covers the three components of operations forensics: operational indicators, operations details that can predict future performance; operational due diligence, methods for verifying companies’ claims about operational excellence and valuing their operational assets; and operational turnaround, an innovative approach to buyout and turnaround strategies. The text also offers brief reviews of operations management concepts, real-world examples of operations forensics, and a glossary. The mathematical material gradually increases in sophistication as the book progresses (but can be skipped without loss of continuity). Each chapter concludes with a “Takeaways and Toolkit” section, a brief summary of prior research, and suggestions for further reading.

Operations forensics offers powerful tools and frameworks for financial analysts, private equity firms, managers, and consultants. This book provides a valuable resource for MBA students and practitioners. Downloadable supplementary material for instructors incudes figures form the text and 42 slides that can be used for class presentations.