Book Description
This best-selling volume has long been considered one of the most user accessible books for management science. The new edition retains and updates the traditional, comprehensive coverage of past editions but now adds spreadsheet-based problem solutions to most chapters. In addition, the book is now packaged with free software. The authors provide a comprehensive introduction to quantitative analysis, probability concepts and applications and decision theory models, as well as forecasting, control models, linear programming models and applications, transportation and assignment models, integer programming, goal programming, nonlinear programming, and branch and bound models, network models, project management, lines and queuing theory models and statistical quality control. For those interested in a comprehensive, yet accessible presentation of QM for management.

Book Info
Provides students with the skills to apply the techniques of quantitative analysis in all kinds of organizational decision-making situations. Discusses probability concepts and applications and decision theory models as well as forecasting. CD-ROM included.

The publisher, Prentice Hall Business Publishing
This easy-to-use text provides students with the skills to apply the techniques of quantitative analysis in all kinds of organizational decision-making situations. Designed for optimum teaching flexibility, it covers every major topic in the quantitative analysis/management science field, showing how each technique works, discussing the assumptions and limitations of the models, and illustrating the real-world usefulness of each technique with many applications in both profit-making and nonprofit organizations. Dramatically revised, the Sixth Edition now offers a completely new look and feel to make teaching more efficient and enhance students' learning experience.

From the Back Cover
This best-selling volume has long been considered one of the most user accessible books for management science. The new edition retains and updates the traditional, comprehensive coverage of past editions but now adds spreadsheet-based problem solutions to most chapters. In addition, the book is now packaged with free software. The authors provide a comprehensive introduction to quantitative analysis, probability concepts and applications and decision theory models, as well as forecasting, control models, linear programming models and applications, transportation and assignment models, integer programming, goal programming, nonlinear programming, and branch and bound models, network models, project management, lines and queuing theory models and statistical quality control. For those interested in a comprehensive, yet accessible presentation of QM for management.

About the Author
Barry Render is the Charles Harwood Distinguished Professor of Management Science at the Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He received his M.S. in Operations Research and his Ph.D. in Quantitative Analysis at the University of Cincinnati. He previously taught at George Washington University, the University of New Orleans, Boston University, and George Mason University, where he held the GM Foundation Professorship in Decision Sciences and was Chair of the Decision Science Department. Dr. Render has also worked in the aerospace industry for General Electric, McDonnell Douglas, and NASA. Professor Render has co-authored ten textbooks with Prentice-Hall, including Managerial Decision Modeling with Spreadsheets, Operations Management, Principles of Operations Management, Service Management, Introduction to Management Science, and Cases and Readings in Management Science. His more than one hundred articles on a variety of management topics have appeared in Decision Sciences, Production and Operations Management, Interfaces, Information and Management, the Journal of Management Information Systems, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, and Operations Management Review, among others. Dr. Render has also been honored as an AACSB Fellow and named as a Senior Fulbright Scholar in 1982 and again in 1993. He was twice vice-president of the Decision Science Institute Southeast Region and served as Software Review Editor for Decision Line from 1989 to 1995. He has also served as Editor of the New York Times Operations Management special issues from 1996 to 2001. Finally, Professor Render has been actively involved in consulting for government agencies and for many corporations, including NASA; the FBI; the U.S. Navy; Fairfax County, Virginia; and C8zP Telephone. He teaches operations management courses in Rollins College's MBA and Executive MBA programs. In 1995 he was named as that school's Professor of the Year, and in 1996 was selected by Roosevelt University to receive the St. Claire Drake Award for Outstanding Scholarship. Ralph Stair has been Professor of Management Science at Florida State University for twenty years and is now entering its phased retirement program. He received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Tulane University. Under the guidance of Ken Ramsing and Alan Eliason, he received his Ph.D. in operations management from the University of Oregon. He has taught at the University of Oregon, the University of Washington, the University of New Orleans, and Florida State University. He has twice taught in Florida State University's Study Abroad Program in London. Over the years, his teaching has been concentrated in the areas of information systems, operations research, and operations management. Dr. Stair is a member of several academic organizations, including the Decision Sciences Institute and INFORMS, and he regularly participates at national meetings. He has published numerous articles and books, including Managerial Decision Modeling with Spreadsheets, Introduction to Management Science, Cases and Readings in Management Science, Production and Operations Management: A Self-Correction Approach, Fundamentals of Information Systems, Principles of Information Systems, Introduction to Information Systems, Computers in Today's World, Principles of Data Processing, Learning to Live with Computers, Programming in BASIC, Essentials of BASIC Programming, Essentials of FORTRAN Programming, and Essentials of COBOL Programming. Dr. Stair divides his time between Florida and Colorado. He enjoys skiing, biking, kayaking, and other outdoor activities. Michael E. Hanna is Professor of Decision Sciences at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL).

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
OVERVIEW The eighth edition of Quantitative Analysis for Management builds on the traditions and strengths of past successes, while recognizing an ever-changing business environment. Quantitative Analysis for Management maintains a focus on modeling and computer integration. Aver 20 years of service to the management science and quantitative analysis discipline have-.contributed to making this one of the most widely accepted books in this area. The eighth edition continues to provide the reader with the skills to apply the techniques of quantitative analysis in many types of organizational decision-making situations. Every major topic in the quantitative analysis/management science field is included in one of the chapters, supplements, or CD-ROM modules. This provides the instructor with the flexibility to tailor the course to different audiences and curricula. We show how each technique is used, discuss the assumptions and limitations of the models, and illustrate the real-world usefulness of each technique with many applications in both profit and nonprofit organizations. We have kept the notation, terminology, and equations standard with other books. As in the first seven editions, we have tried to write a text that is easy to understand and use. Algebra is the only mathematical prerequisite. Expanded use of computer software helps keep the emphasis on modeling real-world problems and understanding the solutions to these models. QM for Windows, Excel QM, and Excel are used throughout the book. NEW AND UPDATED FEATURES This book maintains a student orientation. Feedback from previous editions has been very positive about many features of this book. A summary of the updated features as well as the new features is presented here. Modeling in the Real World boxes help students apply the steps of the quantitative analysis approach to every technique discussed in the book. Many of these have been updated to include new examples of how real companies have benefited from the modeling approach. Procedure boxes describe quantitative analysis as a series of steps. Margin notes, sentences or short paragraphs, are used to make it easier for students to understand important points. History boxes, which briefly describe how a technique was developed, have been updated to reflect new developments. QA in Action boxes summarize published articles illustrating how real organizations have used quantitative analysis to solve problems. The QA in Action boxes have been upgraded with many new applications. There are fifteen new QA in Action boxes in the eighth edition. Solved Problems, included at the end of chapters, serve as models for students in solving their own homework problems. Several new problems have been added. Discussion Questions, at the end of each chapter, test the student's understanding of the concepts. Forty new questions have been added to this edition. Problems included in every chapter are applications-oriented and test the student's ability to solve exam-type problems. These are graded by level of difficulty: introductory (one bullet), moderate (two bullets), and challenging (three bullets). Over 1; new problems have been added. Internet Homework Problems are now available. This feature is new in this edition. Approximately 90 additional problems are available on the companion Web site. Self Tests allow students to test their knowledge of important terms and concepts to help them prepare for quizzes and examinations. There are over 190 new self-test questions in the eighth edition. Case Studies, at the end of each chapter, provide additional challenging managerial applications. Several new cases have been added, and additional case studies are available on our companion Web site. Glossaries, at the end of each chapter, define important terms. Key Equations, which summarize the mathematical material, are listed at the end of each chapter. End-of-Chapter Bibliographies provide a current selection of more advanced books and interesting articles. There are over 90 new references in the eighth edition. QM for Windows uses the full capabilities of Windows to solve quantitative analysis problems. Instructions and screen captures are presented either in the chapters or in the appendices. Excel QM and Excel are used to solve problems throughout the eighth edition. Instructions and screen captures are given either in the chapters or in the appendices. CD-ROM Modules provide additional coverage of topics in quantitative analysis. Companion Web site at www.prenhall.com/render provides additional problems, cases, and other material for almost every chapter. NEW CONTENT IN EIGHTH EDITION With the CD-ROM and the Companion Web site, we have been able to add new and important topics to Quantitative Analysis for Management while keeping the textbook at an appropriate length. Some topics are new to this edition, while other topics have been revised to enhance the learning process. The network models for PERT/CPM have been changed from activity-on-arc to activity-on-node notation to be consistent with current trends in commercial software. Kendall notation and Little's equations for queuing models have been added. The decomposition method of forecasting has been added to the forecasting chapter. This method is also available in QM for Windows. Short appendices in several chapters highlight functions and tools in Excel that are directly applicable to quantitative analysis. Weighted goal programming is illustrated in addition to the priority level method. A discussion of faced time increment and variable time increment simulation models help the students understand whether discrete or continuous variables need to be simulated in different situations. The transshipment model has been added as an application of linear programming. The inventory chapter has been reorganized to emphasize the logical modification of the economic order quantity model when the EOQ assumptions are not met. The transportation chapter now includes a discussion of maximization problems and prohibited routes. A chapter on statistical process control (SPC) has been added to the textbook. Tree diagrams are used with Markov analysis to help students understand the process involved in computing new state probabilities. A discussion of enterprise resource planning (ERP) has been added to the CD-ROM module that covers MRP. A new CD-ROM module introduces the students to the use of calculus in quantitative analysis. This is self-contained and requires no previous knowledge of calculus. CD-ROM MODULES To streamline the book, six topics are contained in modules available on the student CDROM included with the book. The six modules are: Analytic Hierarchy Process Dynamic Programming Decision Theory and the Normal Distribution Material Requirements Planning, Just-in-Time Inventory, and Enterprise Resource Planning Mathematical Tools: Matrices and Determinants Calculus-Based Optimization SOFTWARE Excel. Excel is the featured software tool of the eighth edition. For students already familiar with Excel, instructions and screen captures are provided to highlight functions and tools that are directly related to quantitative analysis. New appendices provide succinct instructions and examples in several chapters. Excel is used for computations with the normal distribution, the binomial distribution, Bayes' theorem, multiple regression, the analytic hierarchy process, Markov analysis, matrix operations, and other models. From the previous edition, Excel is also used for linear and nonlinear programming, simulation, and forecasting. Excel QM. Excel QM is an Excel add-in that makes the use of Excel even easier. It is used to solve many of the problems and examples found in the text. The use of Excel QM is integrated into most chapters. QM for Windows. QM for Windows is the easy-to-use, menu-driven software first developed over a decade ago specifically for use in a quantitative analysis course. This software is continuously being improved by Professor Howard Weiss, and updates are available to the student at www.prenhall.com/weiss. Free Software and Data Files on the Student CD-ROM. Once again, as a convenience to students, Excel QM, QM for Windows, and data files for examples are conveniently packaged into a CD-ROM and included as part of the text. This has been well received and continues to be free to the students. COMPANION WEB SITE Our updated companion Web site uses the latest features of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) with new content and features. Students can benefit from the updated Web site by seeing up-to-the-minute examples and real-world companies using the quantitative analysis approach. New with this edition are Internet Homework Problems that provide more opportunities for students to practice the techniques they have learned. SUPPLEMENTS The supplements have been updated to provide the students and instructors with the best ,reaching and learning package available. Here is a brief list of these supplements. Instructor's Resource CD-ROM. The Instructor's Resource CD-ROM includes electronic files for the complete Instructor's Solutions Manual, data files for end-of-chapter problems, the Test Item File in MS Word, the computerized Test Item File (TestGen-EQ), and updated PowerPoint presentations by John Swearingen of Bryant College. Student CD-ROM. The Student CD-ROM includes Excel QM, QM for Windows, and modules with six additional topics. Instructor's Solutions Manual. The Instructor's Solutions Manual, updated by the authors, is available to adopters in print form and on the Instructor's Resource CDROM. The Solutions Manual can also be downloaded at the text's accompanying Web site. Solutions to all Internet Homework Problems and Internet Case Studies are also included in this manual. Test Item File. The Test Item File, updated by John Swearingen of Bryant College, is available to adopters in print form and on the Instructor's Resource CD-ROM. TestGen-EQ. New for this edition, the print test item file is designed for use with the TestGen-EQ test-generating software. This computerized package allows instructors to custom design, save, and generate classroom tests. The test program permits instructors to: edit, add, or delete questions from the test banks; edit existing graphics and create new graphics; analyze test results; and organize a database of tests and student results. This new software allows for greater flexibility and ease of use. It provides many options for organizing and displaying tests, along with a search and sort feature.

FROM THE PUBLISHER