Learn how to model and solve real decision-making problems using Excel.

This book is a practical, accessible, engaging, and deeply penetrating introduction to the science of decision making. It is a successful fusion of problem-based learning and spreadsheet computation with decision science. It surveys the modfels of operations research and of probability.

As you work through the problems within the chapters, you will acquire a potent set of tools for solving problems, and you'll see how to make practical use of them. You will find examples from engineering, economics, finance, operations management, business, medical decision making, and the sciences. You will see how to use the methodology in a variety of academic disciplines and career paths.

Features:

• Problem-based learning enhanced by realistic examples drawn from a broad range of disciplines.
• Depth of understanding, enabled by the marriage of the methods of operations research with spreadsheet computation.
• Breadth of coverage, welding models of probability to those of decision making.
• Self-contained as concerns Excel.
• Useful Add-Ins. A CD-ROM packaged with the text, contains Premium Solver for Education. TreePlan. RiskSim. several useful functions and appropriate data sets.

This text/CD-ROM package introduces the science of decision making using a combination of problem-based learning, spreadsheet computation, and decision science. It emphasizes the links between operations research and economic reasoning, with inclusion of probability, but excludes nearly all of the algorithms that are a part of operations research, leaving them for more advanced courses. Examples are taken from engineering, economics, finance, operations management, business, and medical decision making. The text is useful for one-semester courses introducing deterministic models of decision making and stochastic methods. The CD-ROM contains Premium Solver for Education, TreePlan, and RiskSim, functions, and data sets. The author is on the faculty at Yale University.
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* Includes the facets of probability that relate to decision making.

Provides the reader with a perspective on the efficient operation of complicated systems.

* Spreadsheets are used to employ and teach techniques.

* Includes the facets of probability that relate to decision making.

System requirements for accompanying computer disc: Microsoft Excel, Windows Explorer.

Educated at Princeton and Northwestern Universities, Eric V. Denardoworked for AT&T and The Rand Corporation before joining the faculty of Yale University. His work is noted for its breadth, innovation, and elegance.