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Business Use of Spreadsheets. Steve Powell Professor of Business Administration Tuck School Dartmouth College sgp@dartmouth.edu Foundations of Spreadsheets Conference Rome, Italy September 30, 2004. Spreadsheet Usage. ubiquitous
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Business Use of Spreadsheets Steve Powell Professor of Business Administration Tuck School Dartmouth College sgp@dartmouth.edu Foundations of Spreadsheets Conference Rome, Italy September 30, 2004
Spreadsheet Usage • ubiquitous • used for data storage and tracking, routine decision support, one-off decision making, EIS… • interface routinely with database and ERP systems (e.g., Oracle, SAP)… • used in concert with other PC software: Word, Access, ….
Spreadsheet Problems • bugs are everywhere • errors in use are suspected but rarely documented • lost opportunities due to lack of knowledge of Excel tools (e.g., Pivot Table, Goal Seek, Data Validation, …) • design processes are chaotic and inefficient • testing is non-existent • standards and training are minimal or non-existent • generating insights is not well-understood
Spreadsheet Solutions • organizational • improve training • establish standards and incentives • raise awareness • technical • alternative software • auditing tools (see Spreadsheet Auditing Software, Nixon and O’Hara, http://www.gre.ac.uk/%7Ecd02/EUSPRIG/2001/Nixon_2001.htm) • formulation tools • analysis tools
Technical Solutions • alternative software • Quickbase http://www.quickbase.com/ • auditing tools • Spreadsheet Detective http://www.uq.net.au/detective/ • OAK http://www.operis.com/oak.htm/ • Spreadsheet Professional http://www.spreadsheetinnovations.com/ • SPACE http://www.hmce.gov.uk/business/services/space.htm/ • Xlsior http://www.xlsior.com/ • Formulation tools • ID Builder http://www.macwayuhl.com/IDBuilder.PDF • Analysis tools • Sensitivity Toolkit http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/toolkit/