Microsoft Excel 2010 Data Analysis and Business Modeling

by Wayne L. Winston

Master the business modeling and analysis techniques that help you transform data into bottom-line results. For more than a decade, Wayne Winston has been teaching corporate clients and MBA students the most effective ways to use Excel to solve business problems and make better decisions. Now this award-winning educator shares the best of his expertise in this hands-on, scenario-focused guide—fully updated for Excel 2010!

Use Excel to solve real business problems—and sharpen your edge!

Model investment risks and returns Analyze your sales team’s effectiveness Create best, worst, and most-likely case scenarios Compare lease vs. buy, and calculate loan terms See how price, advertising, and seasonality affect sales Manage inventory with precision Quantify the value of customer loyalty Calculate your break-even number and ROI Maximize scheduling efficiency Express “home-field advantage” in real numbers Project company growth, predict election results, and more! Plus—introduce yourself to PowerPivot for Excel Your companion web content includes:
Downloadable eBook Hundreds of scenario-based practice problems All the book’s sample files—plus customizable templates

Genres: Nonfiction, Business

718 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 5, 2011

Reviews

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Microsoft Excel ® 2010 came out, I noted that it claimed to finally correct long standing errors in its statistical functions (1). While I wait for McCoullough et al (2) to do their usual reviews, I was encouraged to see that it now passes some basic statistics tests where previous versions consistently failed. For all its faults, spreadsheets are the principle vehicle of communicating quantitative information in business. And to support that, Microsoft Excel has built in many tools for modeling and data analysis. But discussion for many of these techniques in MS Excel books is limited to describing the dialog boxes that are needed to use the functionality. Winston in Microsoft Excel 2010 Data Analysis and Business Modeling provides a needed in depth look at Excel as a data analysis platform in addition to a spreadsheet.

Winston wrote this book as a result of teaching MBA and consulting clients spreadsheet modeling classes. It is broken up into 84 short chapters, each comes with examples (using downloadable spreadsheets and data) and example problems. Each chapter is used to demonstrate a defined concept. For example, financial issues are covered in three chapters, demonstrating net present value, internal rate of return, and the standard bond/loan finance calculations.

The many short chapters allows topics to be covered in some depth. Seven short chapters cover random numbers, followed by five chapters on simulation and some uses of simulation. While the first chapter on a topic may cover the steps to use the tool, the followon chapters all present uses. For example, the Solver is introduced in Chapter 28 with an example that steps through the menu and dialog boxes. Then each of the following seven chapters describe the use of the solver for a standard math programming problem: optimal product mix, scheduling, distribution, capital budgeting, financial planning, facility location, and rating sports teams (ok, this last one is not a standard math programming problem). This focus on providing non-trivial examples for substantial tools is the strength of the book.

Are there things that are missing? Two areas that I find myself teaching students in using spreadsheets is using the tabs to organize data and general spreadsheet management. While there are chapters on pulling in data from text files and the internet as well as a chapter on using auditing tools, there is no chapter on the art of using spreadsheets. The book falls into a common software focused book on working through the functions, even if it does this very well. Therefore, it would not serve as as a book to be used by specialists in data analysis, who need to know the art and purpose of data analysis in addition to applying techniques. But it is good for generalists who have to do analysis as part of their jobs as well as specialists who need to package and deliver analysis to a business audience. And for these purposes, Winston’s book does a good job.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of Microsoft Excel 2010 Data Analysis and Business Modeling 3rd ed. by Wayne L. Winston through the O’Reilly Press Blogger review program.

(1) Openheimer, 2009, Function Improvements in Excel 2010, http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-e...
(2) McCoullough and Heiser, 2008, On the accuracy of statistical procedures in Microsoft Excel 2007, Computational Statistics & Data Analysis Vol 52 (10), pp 4570-4578.

[Eric Vanhove · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, I've got the 2003 version, and there is also an Office 2007 version. Most think that Excel is just good for adding and subtracting, and maybe adding a little color to a list of numbers. If you understand it well enough, Excel can be very powerful, a lot more powerful than most think. If you like this book, then I'd also recommend the "Daily Dose of Excel" and "Newton Excel Bach" blogs. And while the book's title has "business" in it, you engineers can benefit from it too.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out what I wrote in my blog:

http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com/2...



I am preparing a class on Pivot Tables; and this book is just fantastic.

I like the way it presents examples and solves the questions. It is very pedagogic.

[Kamal]

i want to read this book