Quantitative Analysis for Management

I've taught both MBA and Master's in Management classes online and physically at MIT, Harvard (GE Crotonville) and Phoenix State University. There are a group of about 3-5 texts that are now the most popular for graduate Quantitative Analysis (QA). These include the Swift text (most popular in Europe) at from $40 to $80 US ( Quantitative Methods: For Business, Management and Finance ), the Render Quantitative Analysis for Management text ( Quantitative Analysis for Management (11th Edition) ), $175 for the 11th edition, and the very thorough but NOT for self study Anderson text ( Quantitative Methods for Business (with Printed Access Card) ) for $250.QA is a really tough course for people with less math background such as liberal arts, nursing, etc. students going for an MBA, and a bit easier for math and engineering majors in undergrad, because it involves modeling, using a lot of fairly advanced math. Typical QA courses include linear programming (not really linear, and not really programming-- it is about objectives and constraints stated algebraically to find "optimal" graphic or corner solutions to problems such as mixing, profit maximization, or cost minimization); queueing problems; statement analysis; Decision analysis; Project Management; Forecasting; Inventory Control; Logistics; Markov Analysis; Stats; Integer/ nonlinear/ goal programming; regression modeling; simulation; probability, and possibly some econometrics. Most grad (MBA) courses don't go as far as differential equation modeling (frequent models in physics, biosciences, ecology, etc).The Swift and Render texts are the most popular, and the Anderson text a distant third according to publisher's (QA!) data on course use and sales. Both Swift and Render are frequently zinged in reviews for broken or less useful software and models, but this is an unfair criticism. Swift gives numerous (although London oriented) model examples, and Render has their own internet models available. The reason both of these criticisms are unfair is that there are numerous plug ins for Excel that do all the analysis, statistics, programming solutions, etc. you will need regardless of which text you use. The Library Picks team chose Render as the top pick, but due to expense, if you're doing self study, Swift is also a good bet.If the included websites, plug ins, templates and downloads aren't working for you from a software/ modeling viewpoint, here is a brief list of outstanding Excel options that will do the same thing, many for free:--  Statistical Analysis: Microsoft Excel 2010 --  Business Analysis: Microsoft Excel 2010 (MrExcel Library) --  Predictive Analytics: Microsoft Excel --  Microsoft Excel 2010: Data Analysis and Business Modeling --  Charts and Graphs: Microsoft Excel 2010 (MrExcel Library) These will take care of the problems metioned by some reviewers that it is hard to stay up to date on models. In particular, Microsoft has now migrated their SQL server business analysis package to a new language called DAX in the FREE Excel plug in PowerPivot. These plug ins, many free on the web, will work perfectly with the examples in Swift and Render so you don't have to sweat the included QA software if it crashes.One caveat: many reviews complain about QA software with "bugs" when in fact it is the reviewer's computer at fault. To run modern QA programs with lots of modeling, you need a modern dual core processor with at LEAST 8 gig of ram, preferably 12 or 16. The reason for this is that with pipelining, the old "math coprocessor" hardware has given way to sharing between CPU and GPU for floating point, and recent software-- even SPSS -- will crash older machines or appear to be buggy. Excel with a plug in also is a great answer to this, because you can get away with much less power if your machine is already doing well with Excel. PowerPivot is intensive, but only if you have huge amounts of data. The typical mixing problem is no problem even with a computer that's say, post 2009.

QMB3600 This edition is almost IDENTICAL to the 13th edition. Book was not required for the class. Bought for additional problems and practice.

Good book with interesting information; expected level for Master's class. The main issue I had with the book, was I had to search the publisher's website to verify the correct CD companion. Bought the CD entitled "POM-QM for Windows, version 3" from Amazon.com,  POM-QM for Windows, version 3 . Although not required for class, the CD did help completing assignments, so it wasn't a bad investment. However, I wish it was included with the price of the book (which I bought for $186).Pearson Higher Ed also has a useful and free student companion website.

I opted for the Kindle version as I need to travel with my textbooks. In this regard, the Kindle version is an excellent resource for searching, highlighting and portability of course. The content of the book is extensive and will certainly become a reference book for future efforts beyond academics (after finishing my MBA). The information is presented in an easy to understand format, understandably "easy" is a relative term. However for the amount of information required on this subject this book is very thorough. It provides numerous case studies, references to real-world examples and plenty of chapter review questions.

I had only heard horror stories about this type of class. Either the class isn't as difficult as expected or the book is helping clarify the concepts. I liked the alternate solutions that were explained using Excel QM as well. This class and book brought many new concepts to me that are invaluable in the world of business.

Unfortunately, not everyone in the world is a Windows user, there are those who use Mac and there are some differences between Excel for Mac and Excel for Windows. In the preface it discusses POM-QM for windows and touts it as "user friendly". The examples of how to use POM-QM are minimal at best and mentioned as an afterthought in appendices at the end of some chapters.

Bought for a Master's class and it had great info! If math doesn't come easily, utilize YouTube for areas not covered well in the book.

Arrived in a timely manner and was just what I needed for my Quant 2 class. Way cheaper than my school's book store too.

Great experience. Thanks.