Quantitative Approaches in Business with MathXL

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 Professor and Dean of Student Experience and Quality Enhancement at the University of Gloucestershire.

Table of Contents Guided Tour Preface Acknowledgements Note to the reader Introduction: Why quantitative methods? PART 1: NUMBERS - HOW WE HANDLE THEM 1. Tools of the trade: basic numeracy skills 2. Spreadsheets and other computer-based resources PART TWO: NUMBERS - A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 3. Obtaining the figures: data and data collection 4. Presenting the figures: tables and diagrams 5. Summarising the figures: measures of location and spread 6. Measuring changes: index numbers PART THREE: NUMBERS - A BASIS FOR DEDUCTION 7. A firm foundation: elementary probability 8. Patterns of probability: some distributions 9. Estimating from samples: inference 10. Checking a theory: hypothesis testing 11. Making it better: statistics and quality improvement 12. Looking for connections: correlation 13. Spotting the relationship: line fitting and forecasting 14. Multiple regression PART 4 NUMBERS - A TOOL OF PLANNING 15. Planning an inventory policy: stock control and simulation 16. Forecasting: time-series, semi-log graphs and exponential smoothing 17. Allowing for interest: financial mathematics 18. Planning production levels: linear programming 19. Planning a project: network analysis 20. Quantitative methods in the student research project Appendices 1 Suggestions for further reading 2 Random sampling numbers 3 Cumulative binomial probabilities 4 Cumulative Poisson probabilities 5 Areas under the standard normal curve 6 Percentage points of the X2 distribution 7 The correlation coefficient 8 The t-distribution 9 Solutions to selected exercises Index