Decision Modeling with Microsoft(R) Excel (6th Edition)

The CD contains some valuable tools for advances topics (monte carlo and discrete event simulation). Frontline Systems were alo kind enough to send free of charge an updated version of the premium solver for education (the version on CD is not compatible with Excel 2003).

I consider the book a great value and recommend it to anyone who is willing to invest the time to learn from it.


The best   June 8, 2002
Mr I S Yeoman (Edinburgh, Lothian United Kingdom)
0 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is an excellent book, well respected authors, well written, practical and a good book for MBA students. The emphasis on modelling through spreadsheets makes the book......life


Fast shipment. I ordered on Jan 13 and received on Jan 15.   January 16, 2003
0 out of 14 found this review helpful

Very fast shipping. Would buy from again.


Fasten your seatbelts...   January 28, 2004
swingreen (Brooksville, FL United States)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I'll make two separate sets of comments - one for professors and one for students.

Students first... This will be a difficult course no matter which textbook you use. Having said that, I would say that the text is about average in terms of readability in comparison to other texts on the subject. There are plenty of realistic cases to illustrate basic decision/ management science concepts, as well as a very useful CD, with which I recommend that you become well-acquainted as the course moves forward. Not much has changed since the last edition, so you may be able to get by with a previous edition if the textbook (authored by Eppen). Be advised, however, that some of the chapter materials have been re-arranged, including the exercises at the end of each chapter.

For professors... You are probably already aware that this course can be challenging for the professor as well as the student, esp. with respect to how math-intensive you wish the course to be. I think Moore & Weatherford is an excellent text, but it is written as an advanced graduate text. I have been able to "tone it down" for undergraduates by accompanying it with a nice, soft, theory-oriented text on decision/ management science (featuring the teachings of Herbert Simon and some of the early decision science theorists). The text is accompanied with ample instructor resources including a very useful CD with solutions, decision science software. I would engage the students w/ the CD as early as possible. I have also found that the best exams for this course are take-home exams - give the students some moderately challenging decision models to formulate and solve, and focus your evaluation primarily on how well they are able to interpret the results and propose recommendations for decision makers, and secondarily on whether they were able to get the software to spit out the right answers.


Fairly well done with numerous resources on CD   September 28, 2001
Jim Carson (Bellevue, WA)
26 out of 27 found this review helpful

Decision Modeling with Microsoft(R) Excel gives a good overview of using Excel to address various linear optimization problems, decision analysis, and event simulation that one might encounter as a manager of a company. The book oozes with examples and case study snippets, helping one see the practicality of the models as tools in exploring decisions.

While Excel has a lot of features, one cannot help but feel like it's a hammer in search of nails. For example, LINDO (not included on the disk) may be easier to work with than the Excel Solver for some problems. Similarly, tools like Crystal Ball, which is included on the CD and runs within Excel, are rarely mentioned.

Many of the included Excel macros were based on Excel version 4, meaning that if you have more recent versions, like Excel 2000, you may encounter difficulties loading them because the security model for the earlier macros is different. You can work around this by selecting Tools -> Macros -> Security, setting medium security, then selecting Tools -> AddIns and loading the macro (e.g., Treeplan). Once you do this, you can set security back to "High" for better protection.