Quantitative Methods For Decision Makers (4th Edition)

0273687891_COVER 6/5/05 2:51 pm Page 1 Fourth Edition Fourth Edition Mik Wisniewski As a manager, developing a good understanding of the quantitative techniques at your disposal is crucial. Understanding how and when to use them and what their results really mean can be the difference between making a good or bad decision and, ultimately, between business success and failure. This book covers everything you need to know for an introductory quantitative methods course and it helps you to understand why each of the methods and techniques are important by relating them directly to real-life examples where business decisions need to be made. For this fourth edition the book content, examples and cases have been thoroughly updated throughout. The new and improved use of colour, figures, tables and charts help to illustrate key points and make the text easier to read and understand than ever before. Other key features of this book include: Activities in every chapter (with a solutions appendix for ease of reference). Worked examples wherever necessary. Exercises are supported by real-life data sets, provided in Excel, on the book’s companion website. A chapter on financial decision-making. An online lecturer's manual (including solutions to exercises in the text). Quantitative Methods for Decision Makers will provide you with a detailed understanding of the role and purpose of quantitative methods in effective management and managerial decision-making. The focus on the application of these methods by public and private sector managers makes this book especially suitable for those with prior business experience and for MBA students. The book’s companion website can be found at www.pearsoned.co.uk/wisniewski Quantitative Methods for Decision Makers Quantitative Methods for Decision Makers Fourth Edition Quantitative Methods for Decision Makers Mik Wisniewski “Wisniewski makes numerical and statistical concepts understandable and brings them to life using excellent scenarios and case studies. This book was a valuable resource during my MBA studies and I am encouraging all my non-statistical colleagues and anyone who works with statistics or performance measurement data to read this book!” Wisniewski Brian J Pickett, Assistant Director, Local Government Data Unit, Wales Mik Wisniewski is Senior Research Fellow at Strathclyde Business School in Scotland. He also works as a freelance management consultant with clients including PriceWaterhouseCoopers, ScottishPower and Shell, and a variety of public sector organisations. An imprint of Additional student support at www.pearsoned.co.uk/ wisniewski www.pearson-books.com Additional student support at www.pearsoned.co.uk/wisniewski QUAM_A01.QXD 14/02/2006 7:22 AM Page i Quantitative Methods for Decision Makers Visit the Quantitative Methods for Decision Makers, fourth edition Companion Website at www.pearsoned.co.uk/wisniewski to find valuable student learning material including: Real-life data sets in Excel to accompany the exercises in the book • Basic simulations to accompany relevant exercises in the book • QUAM_A01.QXD 14/02/2006 7:22 AM Page ii We work with leading authors to develop the strongest educational materials in business studies, bringing cutting-edge thinking and best learning practice to a global market. Under a range of well-known imprints, including Financial Times Prentice Hall, we craft high quality print and electronic publications which help readers to understand and apply their content, whether studying or at work. To find out more about the complete range of our publishing please visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pea