Data Analysis and Decision Making with Microsoft Excel, Revised (with CD-ROM and Decision Tools and Statistic Tools Suite)
Product Description
Master data analysis, modeling, and spreadsheet use with DATA ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING WITH MICROSOFT EXCEL! With a teach-by-example approach, student-friendly writing style, and complete Excel integration, this quantitative methods text provides you with the tools you need to succeed. Margin notes, boxed-in definitions and formulas in the text, enhanced explanations in the text itself, and stated objectives for the examples found throughout the text make studyi… More >>
On the positive side, this book has many excellent case studies and examples. It is well written and interesting. However, I was disappointed, as I was expecting use of Excel to rigorously solve decision making and data analysis problems. The focus of the book is mostly traditional statistics solved using a group of commercial add-ins for Excel. If this is what you want, then the book would get five stars. However, for data analysis and decision making, I think a more thorough treatment using Excel without relying so much on the add-ins would have been appropriate.
Rating: 3 / 5
This book was put together in the same ‘spirit’ as previous other Winston books; good examples, well thought out attack approaches; as well as a good summary of all the types of problems encountered in the text! I have several other of Winston books, so I’m reasonably happy with his work! I am growing a little frustrated with winston et al. over the fact that they offer no solutions or answers to the many exercise problems contained throughout the text. I don’t think Winston realizes that professionals outside of the classroom are buying these books and don’t have the luxury of a professor sharing answers to the problems. This is where I think he can improve. The software addition, from palisades was an excellent addition to the text! I had already owned many of the commercial versions but have found that the suite, provided with the text, was just as robust as my retail versions.
Rating: 4 / 5
Finally MBA probability/statistics course and MS Excel have been unified in one textbook. The accompanying software is great, especially Decision Tree (probably the only Excel-based software for decision making). Students like business-oriented excersises in the book. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5 / 5
The book itself is an exteremely good source of theory and problems. However, accompanying software is a reason for many disappointments. There are undocumented bugs and compatibility issues. Some supporting material for the book is still not available and customer support could have been better.
Rating: 4 / 5
Just purchased the book as a tool for MBA classes. However, after installing the accompanying CD ROM add-ons I had problems accessing MS Office programs. A critical .DLL file was modified by the program during my installation. I think the program was made to run with MS Excel 97. Another suggestion for the author is to include an answers CD ROM for the problems contained in the text so that students and professionals can check their work.
Rating: 4 / 5