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With today’s technology, companies are able to
collect tremendous amounts of data with relative
ease. Indeed, many companies now have more data
than they can handle. However, the data are usually
meaningless until they are analyzed for trends,
patterns, relationships, and other useful information.
This book illustrates in a practical way a variety of
methods, from simple to complex, to help you analyze
data sets and uncover important information. In
many business contexts, data analysis is only the
first step in the solution of a problem. Acting on the
solution and the information it provides to make
good decisions is a critical next step. Therefore,
there is a heavy emphasis throughout this book on
analytical methods that are useful in decision making.
Again, the methods vary considerably, but the
objective is always the same—to equip you with
decision-making tools that you can apply in your
business careers.
We recognize that the majority of students in
this type of course are not majoring in a quantitative
area. They are typically business majors in finance,
marketing, operations management, or some other
business discipline who will need to analyze data and
make quantitative-based decisions in their jobs. We
offer a hands-on, example-based approach and
introduce fundamental concepts as they are needed.
Our vehicle is spreadsheet software—specifically,
Microsoft Excel. This is a package that most students
already know and will undoubtedly use in their
careers. Our MBA students at Indiana University are
so turned on by the required course that is based on
this book that almost all of them (mostly finance and
marketing majors) take at least one of our follow-up
elective courses in spreadsheet modeling. We are
convinced that students see value in quantitative
analysis when the course is taught in a practical and
example-based approach. |
