Statistical Thinking: Improving Business Performance,, 3rd Edition - Hardcover

Hoerl, Roger W.; Snee, Ronald D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1119605717 ISBN 13: 9781119605713

Publisher: Wiley, 2020

Synopsis

Apply statistics in business to achieve performance improvement

Statistical Thinking: Improving Business Performance, 3rd Edition helps managers understand the role of statistics in implementing business improvements. It guides professionals who are learning statistics in order to improve performance in business and industry. It also helps graduate and undergraduate students understand the strategic value of data and statistics in arriving at real business solutions. Instruction in the book is based on principles of effective learning, established by educational and behavioral research.

The authors cover both practical examples and underlying theory, both the big picture and necessary details. Readers gain a conceptual understanding and the ability to perform actionable analyses. They are introduced to data skills to improve business processes, including collecting the appropriate data, identifying existing data limitations, and analyzing data graphically. The authors also provide an in-depth look at JMP software, including its purpose, capabilities, and techniques for use.

Updates to this edition include:

• A new chapter on data, assessing data pedigree (quality), and acquisition tools
• Discussion of the relationship between statistical thinking and data science
• Explanation of the proper role and interpretation of p-values (understanding of the dangers of “p-hacking”)
• Differentiation between practical and statistical significance
• Introduction of the emerging discipline of statistical engineering
• Explanation of the proper role of subject matter theory in order to identify causal relationships
• A holistic framework for variation that includes outliers, in addition to systematic and random variation
• Revised chapters based on significant teaching experience
• Content enhancements based on student input

This book helps readers understand the role of statistics in business before they embark on learning statistical techniques.

About this title

About the Author

DR. ROGER W. HOERL is an associate professor at Union College where he teaches statistics, engineering statistics, design of experiments, regression analysis, and big data analytics. Previously, he led the Applied Statistics Laboratory at GE Global Research.

DR. RONALD D. SNEE is founder and president of Snee Associates, an authority on designing and implementing organizational improvement and cost-reduction solutions. Prior to this role, he worked at the DuPont Company in a variety of assignments. Snee has co-authored five books and published more than 330 articles on process improvement, quality, and statistics.

From the Back Cover

A STATE-OF-THE-ART INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS STATISTICS

In today's business environment, performance improvement must be a constant. The most effective managers and performance specialists are those who can see statistics everywhere they look. They understand the "big picture" of business processes and can apply data analysis methodologies with purpose, deriving actionable conclusions from data and helping organizations toward their goals. Statistical Thinking is the only business statistics book that will help you develop these big picture skills while training you in the use of important tools, including JMP software and key methodologies.

New to this Third Edition:

• A renewed focus on real-world issues of current importance in business, including data science, data visualization, p values and statistical significance, and statistical engineering
• An all-new chapter on data, data pedigree (quality), tools for acquiring data, and evaluating data measurement systems
• A practical framework for understanding outliers, systematic variation, and random variation, enabling you to understand and explain anomalies in any dataset
• Thorough content revisions, including updated graphs and tables, based on firsthand teaching experience and student input

From the Inside Flap

Data and statistical analysis are increasingly integral parts of modern business improvement, including the lean six sigma and holistic improvement approaches. No longer the purview of high-level specialists, statistics is now a required competency for managers and business students, because performance improvement is a day-to-day must for every business.

Because statistical analysis has been infused into the contemporary business context, we need to understand business performance in a way that incorporates the role of statistics. Data and analysis are no longer the cherries on top they are some of the main ingredients in today's top performing organizations. Uniquely, Statistical Thinking: Improving Business Performance recognizes the need for an integrated approach and gives readers a real-world perspective that goes far beyond the mathematical formulas.

This Third Edition features a long list of updates and revisions that further align the content with current business techniques and educational best practices. The authors have walked the walk, using their own statistical analysis of student feedback to identify major improvements to the text. Additional topics, more visuals, clearer descriptions, and a new chapter focusing on data quality are just a few of the improvements.

Authors and business performance gurus Roger Hoerl and Ron Snee have received acclaim for their engaging, reality-first approach to statistics education. Learners gain a top-down view of statistics and what we are really trying to accomplish when we analyze business data. Each analysis topic is first presented in context, showing how it works in practice before teasing apart the theoretical details. The result is a thoroughly modern book that will help readers develop, not just the skillset, but the mindset to improve business performance using statistics.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1119605717
• ISBN 13: 9781119605713
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 640