Excel Basics to Blackbelt
An Accelerated Guide to Decision Support Designs
2nd Edition
Published on 31. August 2013
978-1-107-24078-0 (ISBN)
Description
This second edition of Excel Basics to Blackbelt capitalizes on the success of the first edition and leverages some of the advancements in visualization, data analysis, and sharing capabilities that have emerged over the past five years. As with the original text, the second edition is intended to serve as an accelerated guide to decision support designs for consultants and service professionals. This 'fast track' enables a ramping up of skills in Excel for those who may have never used it to reach a level of mastery that will allow them to integrate Excel with widely available associated applications, make use of intelligent data visualization and analysis techniques, automate activity through basic VBA designs, and develop easy-to-use interfaces for customizing use. In other words, this book provides users with lessons and examples on integrative Excel use that are not available from alternative texts.
Reviews / Votes
Review of previous edition: 'There's nothing else out there that covers the full potential of Excel in the way that this text does. It's easy to read even if you're a novice to graphical decision support tool development, but it has gems that I doubt some of the most advanced developers are even aware of. The presentation of various approaches to leveraging Excel with other applications such as MS MapPoint, XLStat, and RISKOptimizer is particularly valuable. Similarly eye-opening are the unique tactics Bendoly presents for capitalizing on many of the built-in but underutilized capabilities of Excel. The application examples provided serve as the building blocks for a whole universe of DSS development now made accessible to readers at all levels. This book should become a standard reference for analysts and consultants regardless of industry.' Daniel Bachrach, University of Alabama Review of previous edition: 'This is a must-read book for people seeking to get the best out of the wonderful tool of Excel. It fits in the sweet spot between the 'Excel made simple' and the math- and stat-based Excel technical manuals. The practical feel of the book is conveyed through such evocative section headings as Harvesting Intelligence and Leveraging Dynamic Analysis. Though each of the chapters is worthy of comment, I think that the chapter on Scenario Generation and Optimization is of particular interest to managers wanting to put some real muscle behind their search for the best decision in the face of uncertainty. All together, this book is a major contribution to the business literature.' Richard B. Chase, University of Southern California Review of previous edition: 'Excel is the duct tape of decision support - handy, pervasive, and surprisingly effective. Bendoly's book helps users unlock its considerable power while avoiding costly errors. You'll be amazed at all you can do with a spreadsheet.' Thomas H. Davenport, Babson College Review of previous edition: 'Excel Basics to Blackbelt provides the guidance and tools needed to help anyone develop a solid analytical skill set from the ground up. The skills I learned were instrumental in helping me differentiate myself from my peers and [become] a go-to resource for both my team members and clients.' Geoffrey Grant, DeloitteMore details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
9 Tables, unspecified; 318 Halftones, unspecified; 10 Line drawings, unspecified
File size
51454,04 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-107-24078-0 (9781107240780)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2013
2nd Edition
Cambridge University Press
€59.41
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Elliot Bendoly is an associate professor at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. He serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Operations Management, a senior editor for Production and Operations Management, and an associate editor for Decision Sciences. His research has been published in several academic journals including MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, and the Journal of Applied Psychology. He is the co-editor of Strategic ERP Extension and Use and of the Handbook of Research in Enterprise Systems, as well as the author of the first edition of Excel Basics to Blackbelt (Cambridge University Press, 2008). He holds a PhD from Indiana University.
Content
Preface; Part I. Getting Oriented: 1. Necessary foundations for decision support; 2. The development environment; 3. Getting data - acquisition, linkage, and generation; Part II. Harvesting Intelligence: 4. Structuring problems and option visualization; 5. Simplification tactics; 6. The analytics of optimization; 7. Complex optimization; Part III. Leveraging Dynamic Analysis: 8. Controlled simulation analysis; 9. Scenario generation and optimization; 10. Visualizing complex analytical dynamics; Part IV. Advanced Automation and Interfacing: 11. VB editing and code development; 12. Automating application calls; 13. Guided and user-friendly interfaces.
