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Book Details
Abstract
Quantitative Approaches in Business Studies provides a clear and accessible introduction to quantitative methods, ideal for students of business and management on undergraduate, Masters and professional courses.
With a uniquely user-friendly style, Clare Morris' popular treatment of this challenging subject is carefully designed to build students' confidence in the use and interpretation of quantitative methods. Encouraging conceptual understanding as well as practical aptitude, the text leads the reader from an initial chapter revising basic mathematics through to a concluding chapter discussing statistical research methods for student projects. Practical guidance on the use of Excel for quantitative analysis runs throughout the text, integrated with an online Excel workbook.
New for this edition
- Access to MyMathLab Global, an unrivalled online tutorial and assessment system.
- Many new 'Quantitative Methods in Practice' examples, drawn from recent and topical articles in the press and beyond.
- Substantial case-studies at the end of each chapter, integrating the material of the chapter.
- Revised and updated throughout.
MyMathLab Global will generate a personalised study plan for you and provide extensive practice questions exactly where you need them.
- Interactive questions with randomised values allow you to practise the same concept as many times as you need until you master it.
- Guided solutions break down the question for you step-by-step.
- A full e-book links out to the relevant part of the text while you are practising.
Visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/morris or www.mymathlab.com/global to access MyMathLab Global.
Clare Morris has taught quantitative methods to students of business, from HND to PhD level, at institutions including Bristol Polytechnic, Warwick Business School and Cardiff Business School. She is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of Gloucestershire.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Contents | vii | ||
| Guided tour | xiv | ||
| Preface | xvii | ||
| Acknowledgements | xix | ||
| Note to the reader | xx | ||
| Introduction: Why quantitative methods? | 1 | ||
| Data and information | 1 | ||
| Leave it to the experts? | 2 | ||
| Is it maths? | 3 | ||
| What’s in it for me? | 4 | ||
| Part 1 NUMBERS – HOW WE HANDLE THEM | 5 | ||
| 1 Tools of the trade: basic numeracy skills | 7 | ||
| Almost everybody’s problem | 9 | ||
| Numbers and how we combine them | 9 | ||
| Operations with fractions | 11 | ||
| Decimals: a special kind of fraction | 13 | ||
| Significant figures and rounding | 14 | ||
| Percentages | 15 | ||
| Letters for numbers | 16 | ||
| Powers and roots | 17 | ||
| The use of brackets | 18 | ||
| Solving equations | 19 | ||
| Equations from problems | 21 | ||
| Some unfamiliar symbols | 22 | ||
| Simultaneous equations | 22 | ||
| Straight line graphs | 25 | ||
| Other types of graph | 28 | ||
| Graphing inequalities | 28 | ||
| Sketching graphs | 29 | ||
| Making use of graphs | 30 | ||
| A business application | 30 | ||
| A word about calculators | 32 | ||
| Case Study | 34 | ||
| Further reading | 34 | ||
| Part 2 NUMBERS – A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION | 35 | ||
| 2 Obtaining the figures: data and data collection | 37 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 38 | ||
| A multiplicity of measurements | 39 | ||
| Whence information? | 42 | ||
| Collect-it-yourself | 43 | ||
| Where to find second-hand statistics | 51 | ||
| Points for further thought | 52 | ||
| A word of warning | 53 | ||
| Exercises | 54 | ||
| Case Study | 56 | ||
| Further reading | 56 | ||
| 3 Presenting the figures: tables and diagrams | 57 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 58 | ||
| The management trainee’s problem | 60 | ||
| ‘Eyeballing’ data | 60 | ||
| The narrative approach | 61 | ||
| The dos and don’ts of effective tabulation | 62 | ||
| More complicated tables | 64 | ||
| Easily digested diagrams | 67 | ||
| Tabulating quantitative data | 73 | ||
| Diagrams from frequency tables | 77 | ||
| Some simple graphs | 83 | ||
| Tables and diagrams with Excel | 86 | ||
| How not to do it | 89 | ||
| Back to the Morrisons charts | 90 | ||
| Exercises | 91 | ||
| Case Study | 92 | ||
| Further reading | 93 | ||
| 4 Summarising the figures: measures of location and spread | 94 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 95 | ||
| The trade union leader’s problem | 95 | ||
| What needs to be measured | 96 | ||
| Measuring location | 98 | ||
| Measuring spread | 108 | ||
| Summary measures with Excel | 116 | ||
| Which should we choose? | 116 | ||
| So what is typical? | 118 | ||
| Exercises | 118 | ||
| Case Study | 120 | ||
| Further reading | 121 | ||
| 5 Measuring changes: index numbers | 122 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 123 | ||
| The investor’s problem | 123 | ||
| What is an index number? | 124 | ||
| Diversifying the diet | 125 | ||
| Weighting the index | 127 | ||
| Calculating the indices | 128 | ||
| Deciding which to use | 129 | ||
| The Retail Prices Index | 130 | ||
| What is the use of the RPI? | 132 | ||
| Advising the investor | 133 | ||
| Some technical considerations | 134 | ||
| Other kinds of index | 135 | ||
| Exercises | 136 | ||
| Case Study | 139 | ||
| Further reading | 139 | ||
| Part 3 NUMBERS – A BASIS FOR DEDUCTION | 141 | ||
| 6 A firm foundation: elementary probability | 143 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 144 | ||
| The product development manager’s problem | 145 | ||
| Reckoning the chances | 145 | ||
| Putting probabilities together | 149 | ||
| Tackling problems | 152 | ||
| Giving probabilities a cash value | 156 | ||
| Decision tables | 157 | ||
| Decision trees | 159 | ||
| Drawbacks of the method | 162 | ||
| Exercises | 163 | ||
| Case Study | 166 | ||
| Further reading | 166 | ||
| 7 Patterns of probability: some distributions | 167 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 168 | ||
| The quality manager’s problem | 168 | ||
| The idea of a probability distribution | 170 | ||
| The binomial distribution | 172 | ||
| The Poisson distribution | 178 | ||
| The normal distribution | 181 | ||
| Some further points | 192 | ||
| Probabilities from the computer | 195 | ||
| Thinking again about computer failures | 196 | ||
| Exercises | 197 | ||
| Case Study | 199 | ||
| 8 Estimating from samples: inference | 200 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 201 | ||
| The dissatisfied customer’s problem | 202 | ||
| The sampling distribution of percentages | 204 | ||
| Applications of STEP | 207 | ||
| The sampling distribution of means | 214 | ||
| The problem revisited | 217 | ||
| So how reliable are opinion polls? | 219 | ||
| Exercises | 220 | ||
| Case Study | 222 | ||
| Further reading | 222 | ||
| 9 Checking a theory: hypothesis testing | 223 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 224 | ||
| The training manager’s problem | 224 | ||
| Testing hypotheses about percentages | 225 | ||
| Further points about hypothesis testing | 229 | ||
| Testing hypotheses about means of large samples | 232 | ||
| An alternative way of carrying out hypothesis tests | 233 | ||
| Testing hypotheses about the means of small samples | 234 | ||
| Testing the difference between two sample means | 237 | ||
| Testing hypotheses about more than one proportion | 239 | ||
| Using the & | 243 | ||
| More about & | 245 | ||
| Single-row tables | 247 | ||
| A cautionary note | 248 | ||
| A mixed batch of examples | 249 | ||
| Hypothesis testing with Excel | 252 | ||
| Conclusion | 254 | ||
| Exercises | 254 | ||
| Case Study | 256 | ||
| 10 Making it better: statistics and quality improvement | 257 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 258 | ||
| The pizza manufacturer’s problem | 258 | ||
| The importance of quality | 259 | ||
| Total quality management | 260 | ||
| How can statistics help? | 261 | ||
| Tracking down the problem | 261 | ||
| The effect of variability on processes | 270 | ||
| Can our machines meet the tolerances? | 271 | ||
| Controlling the mean of a capable process | 274 | ||
| Controlling the range | 279 | ||
| Controlling other aspects of a process | 280 | ||
| Sampling inspection | 282 | ||
| How did it work for Ford? | 286 | ||
| Exercises | 286 | ||
| Case Study | 289 | ||
| Further reading | 289 | ||
| 11 Looking for connections: correlation | 290 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 291 | ||
| The sales manager’s problem | 291 | ||
| What kind of relationship? | 293 | ||
| Using the scattergraph | 294 | ||
| Measuring the strength of a relationship: the correlation coefficient | 297 | ||
| Interpreting the correlation coefficient | 301 | ||
| The sales data revisited | 303 | ||
| What we have – and have not – proved | 303 | ||
| The rank correlation | 305 | ||
| Exercises | 307 | ||
| Case Study | 309 | ||
| 12 Spotting the relationship: line fitting | 311 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 312 | ||
| More problems for the sales manager! | 312 | ||
| What is a ‘well-fitting line’? | 313 | ||
| Calculating the regression line | 316 | ||
| Using straight lines to forecast over time | 323 | ||
| Regression with Excel | 325 | ||
| Exercises | 327 | ||
| Case Study | 329 | ||
| 13 More complex relationships: multiple regression | 331 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 332 | ||
| The advertising manager’s problem | 332 | ||
| Carrying out the multiple regression | 333 | ||
| Interpreting the results | 334 | ||
| Qualitative variables in a regression equation | 336 | ||
| Using multiple regression to fit curves | 339 | ||
| Some points to watch for when using regression | 340 | ||
| Back to the Treasury Economic Model | 343 | ||
| Exercises | 344 | ||
| Case Study | 348 | ||
| Further reading | 348 | ||
| Part 4 NUMBERS – A TOOL OF PLANNING | 349 | ||
| 14 Planning an inventory policy: stock control and simulation | 351 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 352 | ||
| The small business’s problem | 352 | ||
| The information needed | 353 | ||
| Simplifying the problem | 354 | ||
| Solving the simplified problem | 356 | ||
| Eliminating some assumptions | 359 | ||
| Making and using | 360 | ||
| Allowing stock-outs | 362 | ||
| The effect of errors in estimates | 364 | ||
| Alternative approaches | 366 | ||
| Simulating an inventory process | 366 | ||
| Exercises | 370 | ||
| Case Study | 372 | ||
| Further reading | 373 | ||
| 15 Forecasting: time-series, semi-log graphs and exponential smoothing | 374 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 375 | ||
| The airline manager’s problem | 376 | ||
| Forecasting: when can we do it? | 376 | ||
| Forecasting a steady percentage growth | 377 | ||
| More uses for semi-log graphs | 380 | ||
| Forecasting from a short-term pattern | 383 | ||
| Extracting the trend | 385 | ||
| Analysing the seasonal variations | 388 | ||
| Calculating random variations | 389 | ||
| Getting a forecast | 390 | ||
| Other patterns of variation | 390 | ||
| Forecasting the pie sales figures | 392 | ||
| Forecasting in an unpredictable situation | 395 | ||
| Features of exponential smoothing | 397 | ||
| Software for forecasting | 399 | ||
| Exercises | 400 | ||
| Case Study | 403 | ||
| Further reading | 404 | ||
| 16 Allowing for interest: financial mathematics | 405 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 406 | ||
| The management accountant’s problem | 406 | ||
| The fundamentals of compound interest | 407 | ||
| Applications of the compound interest formula | 409 | ||
| The idea of present value | 412 | ||
| Applications of discounting | 415 | ||
| Calculating mortgage and hire purchase repayments | 417 | ||
| Some further points | 419 | ||
| Comparing investments | 419 | ||
| Computational note | 422 | ||
| Worked examples | 423 | ||
| Exercises | 424 | ||
| Case Study | 425 | ||
| Further reading | 426 | ||
| 17 Planning production levels: linear programming | 427 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 428 | ||
| The production manager’s problem | 428 | ||
| Setting up the model | 429 | ||
| Graphing the model | 431 | ||
| Finding the best solution | 433 | ||
| Varying the constraints | 436 | ||
| Changes in the profits | 439 | ||
| A different type of problem | 440 | ||
| Problems where the solutions must be integers | 442 | ||
| Solving linear programming problems with Excel Solver | 442 | ||
| Reservations and conclusions | 444 | ||
| Exercises | 445 | ||
| Case Study | 447 | ||
| Further reading | 447 | ||
| 18 Planning a project: network analysis | 448 | ||
| Quantitative methods in practice | 449 | ||
| The office supervisor’s problem | 449 | ||
| Drawing up a precedence table | 450 | ||
| Constructing the network | 451 | ||
| Numbering the network | 455 | ||
| An alternative way of drawing the network | 456 | ||
| The shortest time for the job | 457 | ||
| Finding the floats | 458 | ||
| Making the best of it | 460 | ||
| Limitations of the method | 462 | ||
| The technique in practice | 462 | ||
| Exercises | 463 | ||
| Case Study | 465 | ||
| Further reading | 466 | ||
| 19 Quantitative methods in the student research project | 467 | ||
| The business student’s problem | 468 | ||
| What shall I write about? | 468 | ||
| A general methodology for quantitative investigations | 470 | ||
| Examples | 478 | ||
| Further reading | 480 | ||
| APPENDICES | 481 | ||
| 1 A note on computer resources | 483 | ||
| 2 Random sampling numbers | 484 | ||
| 3 Cumulative binomial probabilities | 485 | ||
| 4 Cumulative Poisson probabilities | 487 | ||
| 5 Areas under the standard normal curve | 489 | ||
| 6 Percentage points of the & | 490 | ||
| 7 The correlation coefficient | 493 | ||
| 8 The t-distribution | 494 | ||
| 9 Solutions to selected exercises | 495 | ||
| Index | 514 |