Integrating Spreadsheet Engineering in a Management Science Course: A Hierarchical Approach

Abstract

Business students who rely on spreadsheets can use management science only to the extent that they can build a spreadsheet model of an unstructured business situation. Spreadsheets are the primary vehicle for analytical work in business, are advantageous for modeling and model representation, and are used by management science practitioners as well as end-user modelers. There is a common misperception that spreadsheets are somehow "easy" to use. However, the spreadsheet is a powerful rapid development computer programming language that requires software engineering for serious work. People struggle to efficiently build effective, transferable spreadsheet models. Students need certain spreadsheet engineering principles that they do not know, but value highly when they learn them. Spreadsheet engineering can be taught using a hierarchical "Skills, Capabilities and Practices Model." Low-level "Skills" need to be evaluated and fixed early in a spreadsheetoriented management science course. High-level "Capabilities" and "Practices" should be integrated throughout the course. Embracing spreadsheet engineering provides a magnificent opportunity for management science instructors to increase relevance and student satisfaction while increasing the likelihood of management science application by our graduates.

Teaching basic marketing accountability using spreadsheets: An exploratory perspective

“…Black et al 2005;Dembeck and Stout 1997;Hwarng 2001;Grossman 2006;Lilien et al 1998;Markham and Palocksay 2006;Palocksay and Markham 2002;Sosin et al 2004;Yi and Davis 2003). Sosin et al (2004) examine the use of technology (including spreadsheets) in economics education.…”

“…Hwarng (2001) employs a simulation in his course that uses the spreadsheet as a platform to teach student the nuances of simulation models. Grossman (2006) describes the process of spreadsheet engineering in a management science course. These examples illustrate the extensive use of spreadsheet for teaching and training purposes, primarily in OR/MS, decision sciences and MIS areas, with a focus on teaching the intricacies of the spreadsheet.…”

“…Davis 1986;1989;1993;Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw 1989;Venkatesh and Davis 1996) and it is based on the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein 1980;Fishbein and Ajzen 1975). The TAM framework is relevant because spreadsheet and its usage in decision making are seen as something that involves math and technology by business students in general and marketing students in particular and hence are approached with some fear and apprehension (Grossman 2006;Jordan et al 1997;Papageorgiou 1996). Grossman (2006) also states that knowledge and use of spreadsheet for serious work is not easy.…”

A Spreadsheet Scenario Analysis Technique That Integrates with Optimization and Simulation

“…to fix student spreadsheet deficiencies with minimal use of class time using "student-led remediation" described in Grossman (2006). Students need to be able to use the INDEX function to program the Scenario Engine and Excel's Data Table tool to build the scenario summary report.…”

Online Teaching in a Large, Required, Undergraduate Management Science Course

“…In the 1990s, the use of spreadsheets for data management and problem formulation and solution increased dramatically (Erickson and Turban 1985, Jones 1986, Winston 1996, Conway and Ragsdale 1997, Martin 2000. The next innovation focused spreadsheet capabilities on business decision models and the use of management science in these models (Bodily 1996, Mather 1999, Powell 2000, Robinson et al 2003, Sokol 2005, Grossman 2006). Leong and Cheong (2008), for example, suggested that a separate course in business modeling be taken before the course in management science.…”