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Business Analytics: Data Analysis & Decision Making, 8th Edition

S. Christian Albright, Wayne L. Winston

  • Copyright 2025
  • {{checkPublicationMessage('Published', '2024-02-08T00:00:00+0000')}}
Starting At $74.95 See pricing and ISBN options
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Business Analytics: Data Analysis & Decision Making 8th Edition by S. Christian Albright/Wayne L. Winston
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Overview

Guide students in mastering data analysis, modeling and spreadsheets with Albright/Winston's BUSINESS ANALYTICS: DATA ANALYSIS & DECISION MAKING, 8TH EDITION. This analytical approach delivers a proven teach-by-example approach, student-friendly writing and integration with Excel. The data-oriented new edition covers the two main Power BI tools in Excel, Power Query and Power Pivot, and includes sections on implementing these tools in Power BI Desktop. This edition also contains expanded coverage of data mining and numerous new appendices on the use of the R language for data analysis. Current problems, cases and examples highlight the relevance of the concepts. MindTap, the online learning platform, provides engaging experiences that boost student performance by delivering crucial experience with a wealth of study tools such as auto-graded Excel assignments and homework, videos and much more.

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Meet the Authors

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S. Christian Albright

S. Christian Albright received both his B.S. degree in mathematics and his Ph.D. in operations research from Stanford University. He then taught in the Operations and Decision Technologies Department in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University until his retirement in 2011. He has taught courses in management science, computer simulation and statistics to all levels of business students, including undergraduate, M.B.A. and Ph.D. students. He has published more than 20 articles in leading operations research journals in applied probability. After retiring, he worked for several years for the Palisade Software Company and is the author of several successful textbooks.

Wayne L. Winston

Wayne L. Winston is Professor Emeritus of Decision Sciences at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and is now Professor of Decision and Information Sciences at the Bauer College at the University of Houston. Dr. Winston has received more than 45 teaching awards and is a six-time recipient of the school-wide M.B.A. award. His current interest focuses on showing how to use spreadsheet models to solve business problems in all disciplines, particularly in finance, sports and marketing. In addition to publishing more than 20 articles in leading journals, Dr. Winston has written successful textbooks on topics including operations research, mathematical programming, simulation modeling, spreadsheet modeling, data analysis for managers, marketing analytics and more. Dr. Winston received his B.S. degree in mathematics from MIT and his Ph.D. in operations research from Yale.

What's New

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  • The new edition contains two newly written chapters expanding on Power BI tools, including Power Query and Power Pivot.
  • New chapters provide numerous examples illustrating how to use the Power Query Editor, including importing and transforming data in a variety of formats into Excel. All examples are accompanied by new step-by-step walkthrough videos.
  • A new chapter on Power Pivot provides many examples illustrating how to use the DAX query language to create professional business reports. Key topics, such as reporting year-over-year data, are covered using illustrations supported by walkthrough videos.
  • New sections detail how to perform key analysis, querying and reporting with the free Power BI Desktop software package.
  • Data mining coverage has been expanded to two chapters, focusing first on classification and second on cluster analysis and market basket analysis. Where relevant, the analyses are illustrated with Excel tools or available Excel add-ins. Other examples are illustrated with R code.
  • New optional appendices on the popular R language are provided. The primary emphasis of the book has always been, and continues to be, on Excel tools. However, this edition contains many appendices on using the popular R language to perform data analysis designed to provide students an advantage in jobs that require this skillset.
  • Chapters on statistical inference have been efficiently redesigned into a single chapter. Instructors will appreciate the condensed form that still covers the key topics needed for student success.

Features

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  • Practical technical tips guide student application of concepts to business. Insightful tips to help students apply chapter concepts to real business practices, decisions and planning are integrated throughout the chapter. Guidelines and insights range from general technical information to application-specific tips when using Excel, pivot tables, StatTools, Solver and @RISK. A 1-year license to Lumivero's DecisionTools Suite (formerly Palisade) comes with every copy of text or MindTap.
  • Numerous conceptual questions, problems and cases help ensure understanding. This edition offers approximately 200 conceptual questions, 1,000 problems and 40 cases for delivering students’ mastery of the material as they progress through your course. Complete Excel-based solutions are available for all of these conceptual questions, problems and cases.
  • Chapters are written to immediately engage students using interesting illustrations to set the stage for why the chapter’s concepts are important in today's business context.
  • Critical concepts and equations are set off in boxes throughout this edition to make future reference easier, emphasizing key topics for review and study. In addition, helpful margin notes and “Fundamental Insight” features emphasize the most relevant, practical information from each chapter.
  • Easy-to-follow, step-by-step examples highlight actual business challenges. This edition's extremely user-friendly approach includes more than 130 interesting examples drawn from real business situations or events. The solution to each example is worked out in a clear, step-by-step method that uses screenshots to make it easy for students to understand and replicate.
  • Emphasis on modern data analytics tools equips students for today's business world. In addition to covering traditional methods of data analysis, including summary stats, correlations, histograms, scatterplots and time series graphs, this edition emphasizes more recent digital tools for analyzing data. Students learn to use Excel tables and pivot tables, Excel’s Data Model and Excel’s Power Query and Power Pivot add-ins. They also get exposure to Power BI Desktop and the R language.
  • MindTap accelerates student learning. Provide engaging content, challenge every individual learner and build student confidence with MindTap -- the platform that gives you complete control over your course. The interactive eBook offers Excel examples, data file downloads and solutions files for select problems. This edition's MindTap offers more variety, depth, and the option to randomize homework assignments and practice problems with video tutorials created by author Chris Albright. New Excel activities are now available that give students hands-on experience solving problems as if they were on the job.

Table of Contents

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1. Introduction to Business Analytics.
Part 1: DATA ANALYSIS.
2. Describing the Distribution of a Variable.
3. Finding Relationships among Variables.
4. Business Intelligence (BI) Tools for Data Analysis: Power Query.
5. Business Intelligence (BI) Tools for Data Analysis: Power Pivot.
Part 2: PROBABILITY AND DECISION MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY.
6. Probability and Probability Distributions.
7. Decision Making under Uncertainty.
Part 3: STATISTICAL INFERENCE, REGRESSION ANALYSIS, and TIME SERIES FORECASTING.
8. Statistical Inference.
9. Regression Analysis: Estimating Relationships.
10. Regression Analysis: Statistical Inference.
11. Time Series Analysis and Forecasting.
Part 4: OPTIMIZATION AND SIMULATION MODELING.
12. Introduction to Optimization Modeling.
13. Optimization Models.
14. Introduction to Simulation Modeling.
15. Simulation Models.
Part 5: ADVANCED DATA ANALYSIS.
16. Data Mining: Classification.
17. Data Mining: Clustering and Market Basket Analysis.
Part 7: BONUS ONLINE MATERIAL.
18. Analysis of Variance and Experimental Design.
19. Statistical Process Control.
Appendix A: Statistical Reporting.

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Each MindTap product offers the full, mobile-ready textbook combined with superior and proven learning tools at one affordable price. Students who purchase digital access can add a print option at any time when a print option is available for their course.

This Cengage solution can be seamlessly integrated into most Learning Management Systems (Blackboard, Brightspace by D2L, Canvas, Moodle, and more) but does require a different ISBN for access codes. Please work with your Cengage Learning Consultant to ensure the proper course set up and ordering information. For additional information, please visit the LMS Integration site.

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  • ISBN-10: 0357984609
  • ISBN-13: 9780357984604
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  • ISBN-10: 0357984625
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Supplements

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Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

FOR STUDENTS

MindTap for Albright/Winston's Business Analytics: Data Analysis & Decision Making, 1 term Instant Access

ISBN: 9780357984604
MindTap for Albright/Winston's BUSINESS ANALYTICS: DATA ANALYSIS & DECISION MAKING, 8TH EDITION, is the online learning platform that powers students from memorization to mastery. It gives you complete control of your course to provide engaging content, challenge every individual and build their confidence. Empower students to accelerate their progress with MindTap. MindTap: Powered by You. MindTap gives you complete ownership of your content and learning experience. Customize the interactive syllabi, emphasize the most important topics and add your own material or notes in the eBook.

MindTap for Albright/Winston's Business Analytics: Data Analysis & Decision Making, 2 terms Instant Access

ISBN: 9780357984628
MindTap for Albright/Winston's BUSINESS ANALYTICS: DATA ANALYSIS & DECISION MAKING, 8TH EDITION, is the online learning platform that powers students from memorization to mastery. It gives you complete control of your course to provide engaging content, challenge every individual and build their confidence. Empower students to accelerate their progress with MindTap. MindTap: Powered by You. MindTap gives you complete ownership of your content and learning experience. Customize the interactive syllabi, emphasize the most important topics and add your own material or notes in the eBook.