Data Modeling and Decision Making

Author: Liu Guoshan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The teaching objective of the "Data Modeling and Decision Making" course is primarily to teach practical skills. Due to the exceptional complexity of real-world problems, almost all data processing and model solutions require computer assistance. Therefore, choosing the right software for processing becomes an issue. If highly specialized software is selected, students will need to spend a lot of time learning how to use it, which may affect other aspects of teaching. However, using more user-friendly software may not effectively solve the problems. Moreover, if the statistics and management science sections use different software, students will need to master two or more software tools in a short period. Although the National MBA Education Advisory Committee does not require teaching cases for the "Data Modeling and Decision Making" course in its evaluation standards, the enthusiasm for case teaching among universities and their MBA students forces us to pay attention to case teaching in our teaching process. This adds new challenges to the already time-constrained teaching tasks of the "Data Modeling and Decision Making" course. This is also the issue we had to face when compiling the textbook "Data Modeling and Decision Making."
Based on the challenges faced during the compilation of the "Data Modeling and Decision Making" textbook, the authors, after collective consultation, decided to base the content on the fundamental teaching materials of the "Data Modeling and Decision Making" course at the Renmin University of China's MBA program, while also referencing the teaching content of the School of Management at Dalian University of Technology, to compile a textbook suitable for a semester-long course. In terms of content selection, we primarily focus on introducing statistical content while appropriately introducing some management science models. The main reason for this is the limitation of teaching hours; it is difficult to accomplish too many teaching tasks within a limited time. By referencing MBA textbooks from abroad, we determined a writing approach that starts with case studies, followed by the introduction of relevant knowledge, and then reinforces the knowledge with general exercises, emphasizing the use of computer software in the process of problem-solving. As for case assignments, we did not compile them, mainly because there are now many case textbooks available for selection.
Due to the large scale of data involved in quantitative analysis methods in practical applications, which generally require corresponding computer software to be implemented, we decided, after discussion and consultation with domestic and international peers, to primarily use Excel as a tool to solve almost all calculation problems in the textbook, including calculations in management science and the processing of statistical data. The reason for this is that Excel is widely used and can be used on almost any computer. Additionally, Excel is simple to operate and easy to learn, which will not consume too much teaching time. At the same time, spreadsheets are also a very useful tool in modern business management.
Chapter 1 of this book was written by Professor Li Li from the School of Management at Shenzhen University. Chapters 2 to 11 were written by Professor Jia Junping from the Department of Statistics at Renmin University of China. Chapters 12 and 13 were written by Professor Liu Guoshan from the School of Business at Renmin University of China. Chapters 14 and 15 were written by Professor Hu Xiangpei from the School of Management at Dalian University of Technology. Deng Chaya, Chen Shoulong, and Tan Yingping also participated in the writing process.