Cost models underlie all the techniques used in construction cost and price forecasting, yet until relatively recently industry has been unfamiliar with their characteristics and properties. An understanding of the various types of cost model is vital to enable effective cost control and the development of future forecasting techniques. This volume brings together more than 20 seminal contributions to building cost modelling and introduces the major landmarks in progress and thinking in th...

Now updated with new measurement methods and new examples, How to Measure Anything shows managers how to inform themselves in order to make less risky, more profitable business decisionsThis insightful and eloquent book will show you how to measure those things in your own business, government agency or other organization that, until now, you may have considered "immeasurable," including customer satisfaction, organizational flexibility, technology risk, a...

Modern statistics is very different from the dry and dusty discipline of the popular imagination. In its place is an exciting subject which uses deep theory and powerful software tools to shed light and enable understanding. And it sheds this light on all aspects of our lives, enabling astronomers to explore the origins of the universe, archaeologists to investigate ancient civilisations, governments to understand how to benefit and improve society, and businesses to learn how best to prov...

Investments, global warming and crossing the road – risk is a factor embedded in our everyday lives but do we really understand what it means, how it is quantified and how decisions are made? In six chapters Ben Ale explains the concepts, methods and procedures for risk analysis and in doing so provides an introductory understanding of risk perception, assessment and management.Aided by over seventy illustrations, the author casts light on the often overlooked basics of this fascin...

Do you want to better understand the statistics you hear everyday - and recognise if you're being misled? Here is a straightforward introduction to the principles of this vital field of mathematics. Assuming minimal knowledge and using examples from a wide variety of everyday contexts, this book makes even complex concepts and techniques easy to grasp.NOT GOT MUCH TIME?One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.AUTHOR INSIGHTSL...

With emphasis on practical aspects of engineering, this bestseller has gained worldwide recognition through progressive editions as the essential reliability textbook. This fifth edition retains the unique balanced mixture of reliability theory and applications, thoroughly updated with the latest industry best practices.Practical Reliability Engineering fulfils the requirements of the Certified Reliability Engineer curriculum of the American Society for Quality (A...

This book addresses the challenging task of demand forecasting and inventory management in retailing. It analyzes how information from point-of-sale scanner systems can be used to improve inventory decisions, and develops a data-driven approach that integrates demand forecasting and inventory management for perishable products, while taking unobservable lost sales and substitution into account in out-of-stock situations. Using linear programming, a new inventory function that reflects the ...

This accessible, practice-oriented and compact text provides a hands-on introduction to the principles of market research. Using the market research process as a framework, the authors explain how to collect and describe the necessary data and present the most important and frequently used quantitative analysis techniques, such as ANOVA, regression analysis, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. An explanation is provided of the theoretical choices a market researcher has to make with reg...

Computational intelligence, a sub-branch of artificial intelligence, is a field which draws on the natural world and adaptive mechanisms in order to study behaviour in changing complex environments. This book provides an interdisciplinary view of current technological advances and challenges concerning the application of computational intelligence techniques to financial time-series forecasting, trading and investment.The book is divided into five parts. The first part introduces t...

Quantitative data analysis is now a compulsory component of most degree courses in the social sciences and students are increasingly reliant on computers for the analysis of data. Quantitative Data Analysis with Minitab explains statistical tests for Minitab users using the same formulae free, non technical approach, as the very successful SPPS version.Students will learn a wide range of quantitative data analysis techniques and become familiar with how these techniques can...

This is a book about the ideas that drive statistics. It is an ideal primer for students who need an introduction to the concepts of statistics without the added confusion of technical jargon and mathematical language.It introduces the intuitive thinking behind standard procedures, explores the process of informal reasoning, and uses conceptual frameworks to provide a foundation for students new to statistics. It showcases the expertise we have all developed from living in a data s...

The Global Financial Crisis and the Eurozone crisis that has followed have drawn attention to weaknesses in financial records, information and data. These weaknesses have led to operational risks in financial institutions, flawed bankruptcy and foreclosure proceedings following the Crisis, and inadequacies in financial supervisors’ access to records and information for the purposes of a prudential response. Research is needed to identify the practices that will provide the records, informa...