Business Modeling with Spreadsheets Problems, Principles, and Practice

The true potential of spreadsheet software lies in their application in problem discovery and situation analysis, which enables business and financial analysts to work rapidly on unstructured problems. Business Modeling with Spreadsheets offers a rich set of business contexts and notes that make learning spreadsheets interesting and acquiring of skills more effective and enduring.
Arises from the authors extensive experience in teaching spreadsheet modeling in undergraduate s and master s courses in SMU, this book is wholly dedicated to the art of exploratory spreadsheet modeling. Unlike other books, it is designed to be modeling-centric, i.e. using the spreadsheet mainly as a computing tool. Real problems that readers encounter on a day-to-day basis are presented, with the aim of helping them derive applicable principles and link principles to practice. Undergraduates, graduate students and professionals whose work involves managing business development, finance, accounting and operations will find this book a refreshing learning guide and handy reference resource. The book now offers 101 spreadsheet exercises and tools, and includes a new chapter featuring an additional 101 business challenges that the readers can do as modeling projects. The coverage now spans Excel 2007, Excel 2003, as well as OpenOffice.org Calc in dedicated sections, making it easier for any person, whether a novice, beginner, or expert user, to learn business modeling using basic and advanced spreadsheet features, as well as programming in Visual Basic for Application and OpenOffice.org Basic. Completed spreadsheet workbooks in all three spreadsheet versions are also provided.