Exam 1: Introduction to Quantitative Analysis

Who is credited with pioneering the principles of the scientific approach to management?

All of the following are real computer applications that perform quantitative analysis except

Mickey built his lemonade stand out of $75,000 worth of plywood and paint.He sells a glass of lemonade for $30 and uses $1.25 of lemons, sugar and water to make his product.How many glasses of lemonade does he need to sell to break even?

Which of the following terms is interchangeable with quantitative analysis?

Trying various approaches and picking the one resulting in the best decision is called incomplete enumeration.

The authors cite resistance to quantitative analysis as a major reason for lack of adoption.According to a Swedish study, what percentage of projects proposed by quantitative analysts was actually implemented?

Shirley's time sitting at her desk was interrupted when the human resources manager burst into her office with a particularly pernicious problem - customer service ratings had been falling over the last quarter.The human resources manager explained that salaries were too low.Shirley reasoned that if salaries were too low, she could simply institute an across the board 50% increase for all employees."That was easy," Shirley thought to herself as she returned to her office to begin shopping for a new car.What roadblock is Shirley confronted with while trying to identify the true problem?

Suppose she decides to get both ducks and chickens, each receiving their own area in her backyard with separate housing.Plot profit lines for both ventures over a three-year period and determine a range of output for which each venture is superior.

When a problem is difficult to quantify, it may be necessary to develop unspecific objectives.

Once a quantitative solution has been found to a business problem, what are the considerations in implementing it?

Which Excel feature is an optimization technique that can maximize or minimize a quantity given a set of limitations or constraints?

The analyst waited anxiously at his computer and finally the answer appeared - he would need 57 chickens to fund his retirement plan.Still, he had some nagging doubts about some assumptions he had made and he wondered how much faith he should put into the answer of 57.In order to test how reliable the figure 57 is, the analyst varied a number of parameters in the model and ran multiple tests for each set of input data.Each time, the model suggested he acquire 57 chickens - sometimes one more or one less, but never more than one chicken either side of 57.We could describe the solution as

Which of the following techniques involves forecasting models such as statistical and mathematical models?

Mickey built his lemonade stand out of $75,000 worth of plywood and paint.He uses $2.25 of lemons, sugar and water to make his product.What does the selling price of the lemonade need to be to break even at 40 glasses?

Shirley's time sitting at her desk was interrupted when two managers burst into her office with a particularly vicious problem - customer service ratings had been falling over the last quarter.The human resources manager explained that rewarding high performing workers with bonuses would improve customer service.The operations manager countered, noting that there was no way to identify high performing workers because different customer problems required radically different approaches by the workers.What roadblock is Shirley confronted with while trying to identify the true problem?

What element contributes to automation of the decision-making process?

What are some issues with an analyst's use of mathematical models in an organization?

Trying various approaches and picking the one that results in the best decision is called

A profit equation is an example of a schematic model.

Identify three potential problems with people (two with management and one with the quantitative analysts themselves)that may hinder successful implementation of a quantitative model.