Numbers Guide : The Essentials of Business Numeracy

by Stutely, Richard

• ISBN13: 9781576601440
• ISBN10: 1576601447
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: Bloomberg Press

Summary

The Numbers Guide is very useful for everyone who wants to be competent and able to communicate effectively with numbers and is particularly invaluable for managers who have budgetary, planning, or forecasting responsibilities. There are chapters on key concepts including finance and investment, measures for interpretation and analysis, forecasting techniques, sampling and hypothesis testing, incorporating judgments into decision making, linear programming and networking.

Author Biography

Richard Stutely has gained insight into financial, strategic, and operational planning at all levels throughout his professional career. He has worked at HM Treasury, been a member of the London Stock Exchange, an investment banker, and general manager of an international commercial bank. He has been interviewed in newspapers, and on radio and television around the world, and written extensively for publications such as The Economist, The Accountant, and The Banker.

Table of Contents

List of tables	vii
List of figures	vii
Introduction	1	(5)
1 Key concepts	6	(27)
Summary	6	(1)
Ways of looking at data	6	(2)
Fractions, percentages and proportions	8	(6)
Index numbers	14	(3)
Notation	17	(4)
Probability	21	(6)
Counting techniques	27	(4)
Encryption	31	(2)
2 Finance and investment	33	(24)
Summary	33	(1)
Interest	33	(10)
Annuities	43	(4)
Investment analysis	47	(4)
Inflation	51	(1)
Interest rate problems in disguise	52	(1)
Exchange rates	53	(4)
3 Descriptive measures for interpretation and analysis	57	(17)
Summary	57	(1)
Distributions	57	(8)
Normal distributions	65	(9)
4 Tables and charts	74	(14)
Summary	74	(1)
Tables	74	(3)
Charts	77	(11)
5 Forecasting techniques	88	(28)
Summary	88	(1)
Time series	89	(5)
Trends	94	(4)
Seasonal adjustment	98	(4)
Cycles	102	(1)
Residuals	102	(1)
Cause and effect	103	(1)
Identifying relationships with regression analysis	104	(9)
Forecast monitoring and review	113	(3)
6 Sampling and hypothesis testing	116	(21)
Summary	116	(1)
Estimating statistics and parameters	116	(5)
Confidence	121	(3)
Other summary measures	124	(5)
Non-parametric methods	129	(1)
Hypothesis testing	130	(7)
7 Incorporating judgments into decisions	137	(20)
Summary	137	(1)
Uncertainty and risk	137	(4)
Decision trees	141	(4)
Perfect information	145	(2)
The expected value of sample information	147	(4)
Making the final decision	151	(6)
8 Decision-making in action	157	(18)
Summary	157	(1)
Game strategy	157	(4)
Queueing	161	(3)
Stock control	164	(2)
Markov chains: what happens next?	166	(4)
Project management	170	(2)
Simulation	172	(3)
9 Linear programming and networking	175	(10)
Summary	175	(1)
Identifying the optimal solution	175	(5)
Traps and tricks	180	(1)
Multiple objectives	180	(1)
Networks	181	(4)
A-Z	185	(56)
Index	241