Excel and the Real WorldA Prudent Review for RMIF

Bob MeasonMicrosoft Certified Trainer

Microsoft Office Master Instructor

• The Real World after you graduate is DATA• It’s RULE 1, Pure and Simple….and lots of it• In Business, only one idea supersedes RULE

1…the proper and truthful management, analysis and use of the results of RMIF

• Rigorous Mathematical Investigation of the Facts

What Exactly Is the Real World

Back to Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear

• According to McConnell (once a purveyor of Economic truths and Textbooks) defined Economics as, if memory serves:

the study of the allocation of scarce resources to the maximum benefit of society

WHEW! Heady Stuff• Yep, you chose it. You bought into it.• Why did you choose it? Because everyone

knows it’s a hard major? People look at you in awe? OR is he or she nuts?

• Nope, you chose it as a field of endeavor because you felt it could help make sense of an ever changing, ever more chaotic world. You are indeed the idealist you thought you were

Now What• Now you know what Micro is• Now you know what Macro is• Now you know how to think backward because you’ve

had international economics• Now you can sing linear and non-linear regression,

ANOVA and all of the rest with Dr. Nieswiadomy’s elephants

• You, my friend, have made it• Oops!• NOW WHAT!? What is the next STEP?

DATA, DATA, DATA• The next step and for all the rest of your

professional career, wherever it will take you is the rigorous mathematical investigation of the facts……in short (or long) …DATA

• Mounds and Mounds of it• As far as the eye can see• The proliferation in the world is not carbon

dioxide….it is unanalyzed, misunderstood DATA

The Ethics of Data• Lumps of data here, mountains of it there• Good analysts have the answer• Nepharious hucksters also say they have the

answer• Who in this world of data is the Master of all

they tell you? Do you believe them. Are they lying? Telling the truth?

Data is Power• When it comes to Data, those who possess it

do not have the power that comes with it• Only those who analyze it, present it and use

it to sell solutions to problems and issues have the power….remember:

the study of the allocation of scarce resources to the maximum benefit of society

• That implies solutions to problems

The Ethics of Data• Someone will always “analyze” data and

propose solutions based on their analysis• Some analysts will distort their analysis (Enron,

perhaps)• Some analysts will use their analysis to

enlighten murky and ugly waters• It’s all a matter of Ethics, isn’t it• And of course we have plenty of that• So what is all of this have to with Excel

Excel• Excel is our society’s first real personal tool

through which we organize data and make solutions known from what we can glean

EXCEL is only the tool, you are the reason it was designed

Hoorah for Dan Bricklin! (VisiCalc)

How Do Businesses Feel About Data• Businesses…ALL businesses…are desperate for

factual, current data on a whole range of issues

• And Businesses pay very comfortable wages to get factual and current data

• They are Number Monsters out to solicit, beg, cajole and consume data in almost any conceivable way

How Do Business Feel About Data• No business, large or small…personal

proprietor or corporation…restaurants and oil wells, ALL need truthful and accurate and timely access to data

• Without accurate data available in a timely manner, no business can long survive

• But why do businesses care….

What Is It ALL For Then?• Because without accurate and timely data

acquisition, verification and analysis, MC=MR is just another theory of the firm

• But with good data, MC=MR have meaning and setting aside a perfectly competitive environment…..

• Managing and maintaining an efficient corporate structure is ALL driven by DATA and its Analysis

Where Does Excel Come In• In business, Data comes in two flavors:

- acquisition- analysis

• While acquisition is certainly possible with Excel (and must be), this is not its most important contribution

• Excel’s power lies in its analytical tools and visual interface AND…..Here we go!!

VLOOKUP• Select the “Audit Data” tab• Look for the “Student ID Field”• Select the “Names” tab, notice no column

headings• Task: Move all Names from the Names tab to

the Audit Data tab into the Student Name field

VLOOKUP• VLOOKUP(Value, Array, Column, FALSE/TRUE)• Value is the string we are looking for either in

quotes or in Excel cell notation• Array is the Row/Column area we expect to

find• Column is (counting from left to right) what to

take if a match is found• FALSE=Exact match, True=Near

How Are Dates Handled• Microsoft refers to the stored date as a “serial

number”• Windows dates start with January 1, 1900• MAC dates start with January 1, 1904• You force Excel to generate a serial number for

a date by simply referencing the cell in cell notation or moving out of the cell

NetworkDays• This Date function returns the number of

whole days between 2 dates, including holidays

• Select the “Business Date Examples” worksheet

• NETWORKDAYS(Date1,Date2, {Holidays})

WEEKDAY• This function return the day of the week

depending on the “return type”• WEEKDAY(Date,Type)• Type is a number that specifies what day

(1,2,3,4, etc.) you believe the week starts on• Select “Business Date Examples”• Complete Question 4

COUNTA• This function returns a number that

represents the number of cells in a range that are NOT empty

• COUNTA(Cell Range)

COUNTIF• This function counts the number of cells that

meet a certain criterion or condition• COUNTIF(Cell Range,”logical reference”)• Where logical reference is “>200” or “YES”,

etc.

AVERAGEIF• Returns the arithmetic average of a cell range

that meets certain requirements• AVERAGEIF(Cell Range,”Logic”)• Logic needs to be in quotes

FORMULA AUDITING• Formulat Auditing refers to a set of functions

that allow users to troubleshoot their spreadsheets by following “arrows” from on calc to another-Trace Precedents-Trace Dependents-Show Formulas