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SW Construction (Holding) Limited is a construction company that develops and manages properties. After a number of successful years in exclusively developing its own properties, the company has suffered a loss in revenue. The executive director is concerned that they have not been able to obtain a government contract. He must determine how the company can win more government contracts by collecting and analysing data from the last 20 auctions.

Visteon Inc. is a manufacturer of integrated systems for the automotive and electronic equipment industries. An engineer was asked to examine the manufacturing process of one of its products to recommend changes that would reduce the failure rate at the final assembly pressure test. He conducted experiments to collect data, and now must analyse the data to determine what changes will improve plant throughput.

A professor has decided to build an equity portfolio made up of common shares from major companies. He has to decide what fraction of the portfolio should be devoted to each of the four issues by determining the best method of calculating risk. Excel files are available, products 7B01E009A and 7B01E009B.

A real estate appraiser has been hired by a law firm as a consultant in a dispute over the price of a piece of commercial real estate. He used traditional methods of real estate valuation, whereas the opponents in the dispute used multiple linear regression analysis to determine the value of the property, and arrived at a higher estimate. The appraiser has never used linear regression analysis before but needs to respond to this alternate valuation method.

The marketing services manager at Babcock and Wilcox had determined that: Despite being quite sophisticated in our analysis, we are not quite getting the information we need for our shop-load planning and scheduling. Our sales projections also drive our accounting and business forecasts, so we need to improve the way we develop our basic forecasts. How can Babcock and Wilcox improve its forecasting? (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A98E023.)

An analyst at Harrison, Young, Pesonen, and Newell, Inc. had developed the media plan for a discount long distance telephone carrier (Super-Tel) and was supervising its execution. At the start of week eight of the twelve-week direct response television campaign she was monitoring customer response data from the telemarketing contractor in order to judge the performance of the advertising plan, with the objective of making adjustments to improve the plan. The analyst hoped to fine-tune the final weeks of advertising in order to maximize the number of customer orders received by Super-tel, while minimizing the costs of obtaining those orders. Could she use a decision support system to solve this problem. (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A98E028.)

The newly appointed general manager of Alfonso's Department Store has initiated a review of Alfonso's newspaper marketing, in part to gain familiarity with the store's marketing practices, but also to look for ways to enhance both sales and market share. (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A99E002.)

This note presents the basic statistical concepts used to describe and analyze a collection of observations. It describes the differences between empirical distributions and mathematical (or theoretical) distributions, and illustrates the shortcomings of relying on a single statistical measure to draw conclusions. The advantages and disadvantages of histograms and bar charts are also discussed.

In 1998, ICI's research division had discovered a new use for anthraquinone and had to decide whether to accelerate research on a process to synthesize anthraquinone and develop the commercial application, or to terminate the modest R&D effort. (A Microsoft Excel model is available for use with this case, product 7A98E029.)

The Works Manager at Dofasco was faced with rapidly increasing market prices for fuel oil and natural gas in the late 1990s. Anticipating that similar price increases were likely to continue for the foreseeable future, he wanted to be certain that the steel works was making the best use of its energy dollars and, in particular, that the fuels produced as by-products from plant operations were being efficiently utilized. (A Microsoft Excel model is available for use with this case, product 7A98E025.)

Northwest was a major producer of newsprint, with pulpmills in the Pacific Northwest and Canada, from which they supplied various North American markets. The assistant controller was reviewing which mill supplied which market, in an attempt to find some opportunities for cost savings, and planned to develop and use a model to investigate both the immediate newsprint allocation problem and also some longer-term strategic issues. (A Microsoft Excel model is available for use with this case, product 7A98E035.) The supplement, Northwest Newsprint, Inc. (B), product # 9B09E003 addresses the ability of price changes to mitigate supply chain issues and improve supply chain profitability.

In 1998, Ohio Polymer is about to negotiate a contract with ProBut Hydrocarbon, Inc. for the purchase of ethylene gas. The contract will require Ohio to purchase a fixed daily quantity of the gas at a set price per ton. Ohio Polymer's senior management is looking for advice on how much gas they should try to obtain and what price they should be willing to pay. A companion case is ProBut Hydrocarbon, Inc., case 9A98E037, which presents the negotiation from ProBut's perspective.

In 1999, the issue before the directors meeting of LanCo Catalogue Sales was the high level of product returns that the company was experiencing. These product returns were eroding profitability at a remarkable rate, however the directors were split into two camps over what to do about the problem. One camp believed that speeding up shipments would reduce the returned merchandise, while the other camp believed that this would merely increase shipping costs and reduce profits even further. LanCo management was determined that the returns problem must first be understood, then actions must be taken to reduce returns, in order to improve the profitability of the company. (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A99E007.)

The president and chief executive officer of Michigan Auto Products, together with the company's executive committee, must decide whether or not to build inventory to hedge against a possible strike at the end of the existing union contract. He also wants to determine an appropriate strategy for the new contract negotiations to take place with the union over the next six months. (A Microsoft Excel model is available for use with this case, product 7A98E031.)

Jeff Smith, formulation analyst for New England Feed Supply Inc., was evaluating the following week's requirements for three animal feed mixes produced by the Burlington plant. A shortage of one ingredient, meat meal, meant that the company would find it difficult to meet the orders on hand. Smith needed to determine which, if any, of the mixture formulae should be altered, and in what way; alternately, he could elect to buy additional meat meal on the spot market, at a significantly higher price. (A Microsoft Excel model is available for use with this case, product 7A98E034.)

In 1999, City Center Hospital designed a new computer system to reduce record-keeping time spent by nurses, to allow more time to be spent on patient care. The system had been well received by staff at the hospital, and hospital management wanted to market the new system to other hospitals. Students are required to design an experiment that will evaluate the new system. The City Center Hospital (B) case, 9A99E005, presents actual data collected.

This exercise presents the actual data collected from the hospital's nursing staff (see further information contained in the City Center Hospital (A) case, 9A99E004). Students must use this data to show the value of the new system. (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A99E005.)

Ford Motor Company was concerned that five tug operators, each costing $100,000 annually over three shifts, was too many. Colin Cruji was hired to look into the tug operators and see if Ford could eliminate one or more of the five positions per shift. A supplement to this case is available, titled Ford Motor Company and Cruji Management Consulting (B), case 9A99E014. (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A99E013.)

Ford Motor Company was concerned that five tug operators, each costing $100,000 annually over three shifts, was too many. Colin Cruji was hired to look into the tug operators and see if Ford could eliminate one or more of the five positions per shift. Colin has now collected some data. How should he use the data he has collected to evaluate the position of tug operator? Does the data support the possibility of eliminating a tug operator without affecting the current level of garbage collection? (This is a sequel to Ford Motor Company and Cruji Management Consulting (A), case 9A99E013.)

Kandy Chan, the director of operations at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is trying to decide whether or not to purchase 2000 new chairs. As he looks ahead, Chan anticipates an occasional shortage of chairs during major events. He has a choice between purchasing the needed chairs outright, or signing an agreement to rent the chairs for the coming peak season with an option to rent them as well during the following season.