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Introduction to Business Analytics

ISBN10: 1265454345 | ISBN13: 9781265454340

Introduction to Business Analytics
ISBN10: 1265454345
ISBN13: 9781265454340
By Vernon Richardson and Marcia Watson

* The estimated amount of time this product will be on the market is based on a number of factors, including faculty input to instructional design and the prior revision cycle and updates to academic research-which typically results in a revision cycle ranging from every two to four years for this product. Pricing subject to change at any time.

Instructor Information

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Introduction to Business Analytics helps students develop the skills to ask the right questions, use tools like Excel®, Tableau®, Power BI®, and now Python® for data analysis, and interpret results to make informed business decisions. The book uses the SOAR analytics model—Specify the question, Obtain the data, Analyze the data, and Report the results—throughout its chapters and labs. These labs, found at the end of each chapter, reinforce the analytical process, and a capstone in the final chapter provides three projects that apply the complete SOAR model. The 2025 Evergreen Release includes significant updates: new Python Labs are now assignable in Connect, new Python and Linear Programming labs have been added, and a Linear Programming supplement is available in the Instructor Resources. Additionally, ten new AI Lab Instructor Resources and AI Lab Assessment Questions have been introduced, along with two new digital assets in Connect: Programming Prep for Python and Excel, and AI Adaptive Learning Modules. 

1. Specify the Question: Using Business Analytics to Address Business Questions   
2. Obtain the Data: An Introduction to Business Data Sources   
3. Analyze the Data: Basic Statistics and Tools Required in Business Analytics   
4. Analyze the Data: Exploratory Business Analytics (Descriptive Analytics and Diagnostic Analytics)   
5. Analyze the Data: Confirmatory Business Analytics (Predictive Analytics and Prescriptive Analytics)   
6. Report the Results: Using Data Visualization
7. Marketing Analytics   
8. Accounting Analytics   
9. Financial Analytics   
10. Operations Analytics  
11. Advanced Business Analytics   
12. Using the SOAR Analytics Model to Put It All Together:Three Capstone Projects   

Appendix A: Excel Tutorial (Formatting, Sorting, Filtering, and
Using Pivot Tables)
Appendix B: Tableau Tutorial
Appendix C: Power BI Desktop Tutorial
Appendix D: Basic Statistics Tutorial
Appendix E: Installing Excel’s Analysis ToolPak Add-In
Appendix F: Installing Excel’s Solver Add-In

About the Author

Vernon Richardson

Vernon J. Richardson is a Distinguished Professor of Accounting and the G. William Glezen Chair in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas and a visiting professor at Baruch College. He received his BS. Master’s of Accountancy, and MBA from Brigham Young University and a PhD in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has taught students at the University of Arkansas, University of Illinois, Brigham Young University, and University of Kansas and internationally at Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen, Aarhus University, the China Europe International Business School (Shanghai), Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University, and the University of Technology Sydney.

Dr. Richardson is a member of the American Accounting Association. He has served as president of the American Accounting Association Information Systems section. He previously served as an editor of The Accounting Review and is currently an editor at Accounting Horizons. He has published articles in The Accounting Review, Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, MIS Quarterly, International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of Operations Management, and Journal of Marketing. Dr. Richardson is also a co-author of McGraw-Hill’s Introduction to Data Analytics for Accounting, Data Analytics for Accounting and Introduction to Business Analytics textbooks.

Marcia Watson

Marcia Weidenmier Watson is the Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Accounting at Trinity University. She received her B.B.A.in Accounting from The College of William and Mary, and an M.B.A. in Accounting and Information Systems Management as well as a Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. She has taught students at Trinity University, UNC Charlotte, Mississippi State University, TCU, and the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to receiving her Ph.D., she worked at Price Waterhouse as a financial systems consultant, helping to implement Oracle enterprise systems and streamline business processes.
Dr. Watson is a member of the American Accounting Association. She served as the American Accounting Association Accounting Information Systems Section Newsletter Editor from 2005 through 2021. She was recognized for outstanding service to the American Accounting Association Accounting Information Systems Section in 2008 and 2019. Dr. Watson has published articles in Accounting Horizons, Advances in Management Accounting, International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Issues in Accounting Education, Journal of Accountancy, Journal of Accounting Education, Journal of Information Systems, and MIS Quarterly.

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