For the most complex models in the text we will show how to use Excel QM, a supplemental spreadsheet macro that is included on the CD that accompanies this text. One of the difficult aspects of using spreadsheets to solve management science problems is setting up a spreadsheet with some of the more complex models and formulas. However, because spreadsheets are somewhat more difficult to set up and apply than is QM for Windows, we will spend more time explaining their use to solve various types of problems in this text. In addition, spreadsheets have become very popular as a teaching tool because they tend to guide the student through a modeling procedure, and they can be interesting and fun to use. Spreadsheets such as Excel have become almost universally available to anyone who owns a computer. However, spreadsheets provide a powerful reporting tool in which you can present your model and results in any format you choose. Most of the time you must not only input the model parameters but also set up the model mathematics, including formulas, as well as your own model template with headings to display your solution output.

Spreadsheets are not always easy to use, and you cannot conveniently solve every type of management science model by using a spreadsheet. QM for Windows is included on the CD that accompanies this text.

In most cases you simply input problem data (i.e., model parameters) into a model template, click on a solve button, and the solution appears in a Windows format. There are a number of similar quantitative methods software packages available on the market, with similar characteristics and capabilities as QM for Windows. QM for Windows has program modules to solve almost every type of management science problem you will encounter in this book. Throughout the text we will demonstrate how to solve management science models on the computer by using Excel spreadsheets and QM for Windows, a general-purpose quantitative methods software package by Howard Weiss.

Excel qm for windows