Statistics in Management Science

Citation

Vinten, G. (2000), "Statistics in Management Science", Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 15 No. 9, pp. 478-479. https://doi.org/10.1108/maj.2000.15.9.478.1

This is a thoroughly competent and comprehensive book which is accurately described as an intermediate text. There are plenty of introductory texts, but less at this type of level. It would be suited to more advanced students on courses which include a reasonable amount of quantification. Equally managers who are confident with numerical analysis will find this valuable, since it gives practical examples and case studies, often of how an apparently intractable problem was resolved or enlightened by one of the myriad of techniques described within. These include decision theory and Bayesian statistics, simulation, regression and other multivariate methods, statistical and automatic process control, design of experiments including Taguchi methods, forecasting and stochastic optimization methods.

However with the possibly deteriorating numeracy in the UK, the book may not achieve its fully deserved audience. It takes few hostages. Accountants and auditors often seem to suffer the parts of examination syllabuses that bear on this area, and are happy to relinquish use of such half‐grasped techniques at the earliest possible opportunities. It is even less likely that internal auditors will feel confident to be at the helm of such techniques, but at the very least they should note the application of these techniques and be prepared to buy in expertise when this appears to be the optimal way forward with an audit.