An expanded version of the material is to be published by Irwin as Text and Cases in Quantitative Business Analysis. It will have 14 chapters organized in sections covering decision analysis and consequence evaluation, forecasting, and optimization. Two appendices will deal with Bayesian revision and spreadsheet modeling. The expanded version would appear to compete with the four-volume series in managerial decision analysis by Messrs. Schliefer and Bell, published by Course Technology last year. The titles by this pair of Harvard B-School authors address separately: Data Analysis, Regression, and Forecasting; Decision Making under Certainty; Decision Making under Uncertainty; and Risk Management. Hence, they offer four volumes of text plus cases, whereas the Darden authors assemble their coverage in one volume, while at the same time offering the cases in a stand-alone paperback. One can learn more about the authors, as well as search the full Darden Case Bibliography, at their Web site: http://www.darden.virginia. edu.
The reader is referred there for more detail, including a complete table of contents and a "hyper-preface." (While perusing Clemen's Web pages, interested browsers may wish to scan the pages he and Bob Nau maintain for the recently formed Decision Analysis Society, a subdivision of one of DSI's friendly competitorsțINFORMS.) The principal change from the first edition, says author Clemen, was to incorporate and reflect the material from Ralph Keeney's Value-Focused Thinking book. Seven of the chapters from the first edition have been rewritten or amplified in some way. On average, three case studies appear at the end of each chapter; many of these case studies address decision situations beyond the corporate arena. Three major sections follow the introductory chapter: Modeling Decisions, Modeling Uncertainty, and Modeling Preferences. The book is targeted for advanced undergraduates and masters students in business and in public policy but does not require a mathematical background beyond algebra and probability. Various software packages are covered, e.g., DPL. This is optionally available with the text, in student-edition form; no data disk is offered, however. Spreadsheet modeling is also emphasized. An annotated reading list is provided at the end of the book along with probability tables and answers to selected exercises. Instructor's manual available.
The only prerequisite for much of the book is elementary algebra. The primary audience is advanced undergraduate or masters students in business or engineering. Most of the examples and exercises are business-oriented, but with a technology component. (An instructor's manual, with answers to all exercises, will be available.) The book is also suitable for self-study. Exercises and examples address the types of decision problems that MBA graduates or engineers are likely to see at early to mid-point stages in their careers. However, the book takes a theory-based approach so that the methods will continue to be useful to readers throughout their careers. Author Kirkwood feels that with the flattening of contemporary organizations, more of their members will be engaging in decision making, particularly that involving trade-offs.