By Vasant Dhar and Roger Stein
Prentice Hall Publishers
The following is a slightly edited email message about the book from Roger Stein ...
http://www.viamall.com/softpro/0-13-282006-4.html.
There are two versions of the book available, one is suited to business people and one is suited to teaching. Several extended cases deal with financial prediction, market segmentation, data mining, customer service, and quality control and improvement.
The book provides a practical methodology for mapping business problems onto solutions involving neural networks, genetic algorithms, nearest-neighbor algorithms, etc. We also provide extended case studies of organizations that have successfully done this.
The reaction to the book, in both the academic and professional community, seems to be favorable:
"Intelligent Systems are becoming vital at all levels of management from the CEO to the foreman. Dhar and Stein provide one of the clearest and most accessible treatments to date of the subject."
- Herbert A. Simon, Nobel Laureate
"Seven Methods effectively bridges the gap between lofty technical explanation and the down-to-earth business application of a brand new world of modeling technologies."
- Win Farrell, Partner, Coopers and Lybrand
A brief summary of the book follows:
Seven Methods for Transforming Corporate Data into Business Intelligence combines a thorough treatment of techniques for applying intelligent systems to decision support with a practical framework for analyzing business problems. Vasant Dhar (Principal, Morgan Stanley and New York University) and Roger Stein (Vice President, Moody s Investors Service and New York University) present in clear and vivid terms the essentials of modern decision support.
Seven Methods takes a three stage approach to discussing these new technologies. The book is organized around:
In addition to discussing technologies, Dhar and Stein introduce a unified methodology for analyzing organizations business problems and evaluating potential solutions.
This framework, based on the authors years of combined experience applying intelligent systems to real business decision problems, encourages business people to think critically about how the strengths and weaknesses of each technique relate to the particular dynamics of an organization and its problems. The authors show not only when a particular modeling method may be useful, but also when its attributes might make it undesirable for a particular problem.
The text does not limit itself to one or a few techniques, but rather views various AI and database techniques as components of a toolbox that, if used correctly, can make organizations dramatically more intelligent.
Seven Methods provides accessible detailed coverage of
The text adopts an informal, conversational style in their exposition. Despite the relaxed style, the book delves into the subtle aspects of each technique while keeping the text readable and non-technical.
In order to make the material more accessible, the text makes frequent use of rich graphics. The graphical representation of complex concepts are invaluable in elucidating these topics.
To drive home the discussions of modeling techniques and organizational dynamics, the book also provides extended case studies that show in detail how the framework can be applied to analyzing the problems of real organizations.
Cases are taken from the experience of firms in a diversity of industries solving an assortment of problems.
Firms include:
Problem domains include:
(Professional version) Seven Methods for Transforming Corporate Data into Business Intelligence, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice-Hall, 1997. (Academic version) Intelligent Decision Support Methods: The Science of Knowledge Work, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice-Hall, 1997.
Online Orders: www.amazon.com Phone: 1-(800) 643-5506. Please give the operator the following "key code": E1001-A1(3). FAX: 1-(800) 835-5327.