Coping With Numbers: A Management Guide

Reviews data analysis techniques, statistical distributions, correlation, regressions, forecasting, decision analysis, linear programming, and simulation

Coping with numbers is not an easy task. Some managers panic just at the mere thought of it, while others think that Statistics and Operational Research are too theoretical to be relevant to the day-to-day needs of their organizations.

David Targett solves both these problems by tackling them together. The key idea of Coping With Numbers is not to plod through the curriculum of an academic subject, but to analyze and respond to the real needs of managers, businessmen and students. Targett believes that some aspects of Statistics and Operational Research are more relevant than others - so these are the ones on which he concentrates. He demonstrates how managers could understand and use numbers if they had the confidence and the know-how to treat numbers as they do words - as tools. Coping with Numbers provides the know-how and builds the confidence.

The book describes the newest non-technical methods for analyzing data - especially those long tables of figures which strike fear into the number-shy manager's heart - an area all too often neglected today, but vital in this computer age. It discusses the best techniques of Statistics and Operational Research - never previously handled in one book - and shows how they can aid the manager. It includes many revealing real life case studies, and throughout the emphasis is on the practical - an approach which recognizes that some people will want to use the techniques themselves, while others need to know how to supervise those who work for and with them. And, based on his highly successful lecture courses at the London Business School, David Targett's comprehensive and relatively non-technical book is also ideal, given its innovative format and presentation, for self-tuition.