Analyzing Data for Decision Making: Integrating Spreadsheet Modeling and Database Querying

Although students begin with a spreadsheet to analyze the effect of a change in credit score cutoff on loan performance on sales, they discover that this approach becomes unwieldy as the analysis becomes more complex. As more attributes from more sheets are required, the spreadsheet solution becomes...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Issues in accounting education 2017-02, Vol.32 (1), p.59-66
Main Authors: Borthick, A. Faye, Schneider, Gary P., Viscelli, Therese R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business models
College students
Critical thinking
Decision making
Spreadsheets
Students
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Although students begin with a spreadsheet to analyze the effect of a change in credit score cutoff on loan performance on sales, they discover that this approach becomes unwieldy as the analysis becomes more complex. As more attributes from more sheets are required, the spreadsheet solution becomes difficult to implement or audit. The case thus motivates students to develop the database skills of importing the spreadsheet data into a database manager, joining tables, and performing the analysis using database querying. The case requires students to think critically to model the business situation in spreadsheet formulas and database query expressions, structure relationships among the attributes across data tables, and manipulate attributes to achieve the business objective. The case is suitable for courses in accounting systems, managerial accounting, decision making, and database systems. Objective questions are provided for assessing students' ability to analyze transaction records using both spreadsheet and database tools.
ISSN:0739-3172
1558-7983
DOI:10.2308/iace-51385