Spreadsheets help businesses run effectively and efficiently. However, many spreadsheets contain errors. Research provides taxonomies and guidance on preventing spreadsheet errors; this information often is not incorporated into training. Training students to use Excel functions and good spreadsheet practices is critical. This instructional…

NoSQL databases have been used in organizations for decades. Few database textbooks on the market, however, have suitable materials about NoSQL beyond general introductions for typical business students. In fact, users of the typical NoSQL systems on the software market need to have certain computer programming skills. This teaching tip introduces…

Data literacy has become a much sought after skill by organizations as the importance of data driven decision making continues to rise in importance. This study explores the teaching of Tableau as a supplement to Excel to enhance the data literacy skills of students. Twenty-eight students taking an introductory course in Business Analytics and…

The authors' objective was to uncover the difference in competency when teaching Excel to undergraduate students on two distinct and discrete operating platforms. The authors calibrated competency by comparing scores of MOS-EXCEL Certification Test results. The authors conclude that the null hypothesis indicating no difference in mean scores of…

It has become increasingly important for future business professionals to understand statistical computing methods as data science has gained widespread use in contemporary organizational decision processes in recent years. Used by scores of academics and practitioners in a variety of fields, Monte Carlo simulation is one of the most broadly…

This article describes a web-based application that can be used to help teach linear programming (LP) using an active learning approach in business courses such as management science and decision analysis. The software asks 42 integrated questions that guide students in creating product mix models and performing related analysis in Excel with…

Asking questions about your data is a constant application of all business organizations. To facilitate decision making and improve business performance, a business intelligence application must be an integral part of everyday management practices. Microsoft Excel added PowerPivot and PowerPivot officially to facilitate this process with minimum…

Several studies have found that a large percentage of middle-skilled jobs require at least a basic understanding of spreadsheets, and some even advanced level skills. A study was conducted at a four-year university to identify Excel skill sets that were determined as necessary by employers of the university's current students, advisory boards,…

Business analytics can be described as the statistical analysis of data to make decisions and meaningful conclusions. As the demand to advance the curriculum of undergraduate business education increases, courses in business analytics aim to provide students with fundamental skills in critical thinking. Educators have found that spreadsheet…

Single-period inventory models with uncertain demand are very well known in the business analytics community. Typically, such models are rule-based functions, or sets of functions, of one decision variable (order quantity) and one random variable (demand). In academics, the models are taught selectively and usually not completely. Students are…

The development of a student's ability to make data-driven decisions has become a focus in higher education (Schield 1999; Stephenson and Caravello 2007). Data literacy, the ability to understand and use data to effectively inform decisions, is a fundamental component of information competence (Mandinach and Gummer 2013; Stephenson and Caravello,…

Design, development and explorations of databases are popular topics covered in introductory courses taught at business schools. Microsoft Access is the most popular software used in those courses. Despite quite high complexity of Access, it is considered to be one of the most friendly database programs for beginners. A typical Access textbook…

A key issue in exponential smoothing is the choice of the values of the smoothing constants used. One approach that is becoming increasingly popular in introductory management science and operations management textbooks is the use of Solver, an Excel-based non-linear optimizer, to identify values of the smoothing constants that minimize a measure…

With 27 million users, Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Seattle, WA) is the most common business data analysis software. However, audits show that almost all complex spreadsheets have errors. The author examined textbooks to understand why responsible data analysis is taught. A purposeful sample of 10 textbooks was coded, and then compared against…

There is consensus in the statistical literature that severe departures from its assumptions invalidate the use of regression modeling for purposes of inference. The assumptions of regression modeling are usually evaluated subjectively through visual, graphic displays in a residual analysis but such an approach, taken alone, may be insufficient…