Business Analytics, 5e Jeffrey Camm, James Cochran, Michael Fry, Jeffrey Ohlmann (Solutions
Manual All Chapters, 100% Original Verified, A+ Grade) Get Supplement files download link at the
end of this file.
JEFFREY D. CAMM, JAMES J. COCHRAN, MICHAEL J. FRY, JEFFREY W. OHLMANN, BUSINESS ANALYTICS, 2024,
9780357902202; CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ANALYTICS
PROBLEMS
1. Quality versus Low Cost. Car manufacturer Lexus competes in the luxury car category
and is known for its quality. The decision to compete on quality rather than low cost is
an example of what type of decision: strategic, tactical, or operational? Explain. LO 1
Solution
Because it concerns the overall direction of the company, the decision to be a luxury
brand is a strategic decision. Tactical and operational decisions should support this
strategic decision. For example, using only the highest quality materials would be a
tactical decision that supports a luxury brand. An example of an operational decision
would be to always offer a free loaner car when the car is serviced.
2. Package Delivery. Every day, logistics companies like United Parcel Service (UPS) must
decide how to route their trucks, that is, the order in which to deliver the packages
that have been loaded on a truck. UPS developed a system called On-Road Integrated
Optimization and Navigation (ORION) which dynamically routes its trucks based on
packages on the truck and traffic conditions. It is estimated that ORION saves UPS
about 10 million gallons of fuel per year. Is the decision of how to route a ruck a
strategic, tactical, or operational decision? Explain. LO 1
Solution
Because how to route a truck depends on the packages that need to be delivered that
day, the decision of how to route a truck is an operational decision.
3. Airline Decisions. JetBlue is a major U.S. airline that ranked seventh in the United
States in 2021 based on number of passengers carried. JetBlue has 270 aircraft and
services 104 destinations. Consider three decisions below that an airline like JetBlue
must make. For each decision, tell if it is strategic, tactical, or operational and explain.
LO 1
a. Which crew should be assigned to a given flight?
b. Should we compete on low cost or quality?
c. What type of aircraft should we purchase?
Solution
a. Which crew should be assigned to a given flight is a decision that needs to be
made daily, so it is an operational decision.
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 1
website, in whole or in part.
, b. To compete on low cost versus quality sets the direction of the airline, so it is s
strategic decision.
c. The type of aircraft to purchase is not a daily decision, but one that does concern
how the airline will achieve its strategy. So, the type of aircraft to purchase is a
tactical decision. For example, a low-cost strategy might be best supported
tactically by purchasing planes that have no first-class seats.
4. Choosing A College. Millions of high school graduates decide annually to enroll in a
college or university. Many factors can influence a student’s choice of where to enroll.
List the five steps of the decision-making process and discuss each step of the
process, where the decision to be made is choosing which college to attend. LO 2
Solution
1. Identify and define the problem. Choosing where to enroll, given the set of schools
to which the student gained admission, is the decision to be made.
2. Determine the criteria that will be used to evaluate alternative solutions. Criteria
to be considered might include, cost, amount of financial aid received, location,
and academic reputation of the school.
3. Determine the set of alternative solutions. The set of alternative solutions from
which to choose is the set of colleges and universities that granted the student
admission.
4. Evaluate the alternatives. Using the importance the student places on each of the
factors listed in step 2, evaluate each offer of admission.
5. Choose an alternative. Based on the evaluation in step 4, the student can rank
order the schools offering admission, trade off the pros and cons for each school
for each factor, and choose to enroll in the school ranked number one.
5. Package Delivery (Revisited). Consider again the ORION system discussed in problem 2.
Is ORION an example of descriptive, predictive, or prescriptive analytics? Explain.
LO 3
Solution
ORION provides a course of action (the route to the next delivery spot), so it is an
example of prescriptive analytics.
6. Quality Control for Boxes of Cereal. A control chart is a graphical tool to help
determine if a process is in control or out of control. The following figure shows a
control chart for a production line that fills boxes of cereal. Based on past data, we
can calculate the mean weight of a box of cereal when the process is in control. The
mean weight is 16.05 ounces. We can also calculate control limits, an upper control
limit (UCL) and a lower control limit (LCL). New samples are collected over time and
the data indicates that the process is in control so long as the new sample weights are
between UCL and LCL. As shown in the chart, only sample 5 is outside of the control
limits. LO 3
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 2
website, in whole or in part.
, a. Is the control chart an example of descriptive, predictive, or prescriptive analytics?
b. Suppose the control cart is part of a data dashboard and the chart is combined
with a rule that does the following. If four consecutive sample mean weights are
outside of the control limits, the production line is automatically stopped, and a
message appears on the dashboard. The message says “The production line is
stopped. The process may be out of control. Please inspect the fill machine.” Is
this new enhanced control chart combined with a rule an example of descriptive,
predictive, or prescriptive analytics?
Solution
a. The control chart simply describes the production data, so it is descriptive
analytics.
b. The new enhanced control chart combines a descriptive tool (the chart) with a rule
that causes a course of action to take place. Hence, the new rule-based system is
an example of prescriptive analytics.
7. Amazon Books. An example of a response from Amazon when this textbook you are
reading was chosen online, is given below. It indicates that some people who purchased
this text also tended to purchase The World Is Flat, Fundamentals of Corporate Finance,
and Strategic Marketing Management. In this application of analytics, is Amazon using
descriptive, predictive, or prescriptive analytics? Explain. LO 3
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 3
website, in whole or in part.
, Solution
Amazon is describing other books that tend to be purchased with the text Business
Analytics, based on past consumer purchases. Therefore, this is an example of
descriptive analytics.
8. Employee Retention. Human Resource (HR) Analytics or People analytics are terms
used for the use of analytics to manage a company’s workforce. Google, Microsoft, and
Walmart, for example, use people analytics to help retain their best people, ensure a
diverse workforce, and better understand the strengths and areas needing
improvement. LO 3, 4
a. One application of people analytics is to build a model that estimates the
probability of an employee departing the company within the next six months.
Inputs to the model could be market demand for the skills the person possesses,
how long the person has been with the company, and a major life event recently
occurring for the person (for example, divorce). Is this type of model descriptive,
predictive, or prescriptive? Explain.
b. How could you use the model described in part (a) to help improve the workforce?
Solution
a. Since the model estimates a probability, that is, how likely it is that a person will
depart the company in the next six months, it is an example of predictive analytics.
It predicts how likely a person is to depart in the next 6 months.
b. The predictive model could be used to improve the workforce by applying a rule to
the model to make it prescriptive. For example, a rule might be “for a high-
performing employee, if the estimated probability of departure is greater than 0.4,
proactively give a 10% increase in salary to that person, with the hope that the
person will likely stay.”
9. Supermarket Checkout Lanes. A supermarket has been experiencing long lines during
peak periods of the day. The problem is noticeably worse on certain days of the week,
and the peak periods are sometimes different according to the day of the week. There
are usually enough workers on the job to open all checkout lanes. The problem is
knowing when to call some of the workers stocking shelves up to the front of the
store to work the checkout lanes. LO 4
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 4
website, in whole or in part.
Manual All Chapters, 100% Original Verified, A+ Grade) Get Supplement files download link at the
end of this file.
JEFFREY D. CAMM, JAMES J. COCHRAN, MICHAEL J. FRY, JEFFREY W. OHLMANN, BUSINESS ANALYTICS, 2024,
9780357902202; CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ANALYTICS
PROBLEMS
1. Quality versus Low Cost. Car manufacturer Lexus competes in the luxury car category
and is known for its quality. The decision to compete on quality rather than low cost is
an example of what type of decision: strategic, tactical, or operational? Explain. LO 1
Solution
Because it concerns the overall direction of the company, the decision to be a luxury
brand is a strategic decision. Tactical and operational decisions should support this
strategic decision. For example, using only the highest quality materials would be a
tactical decision that supports a luxury brand. An example of an operational decision
would be to always offer a free loaner car when the car is serviced.
2. Package Delivery. Every day, logistics companies like United Parcel Service (UPS) must
decide how to route their trucks, that is, the order in which to deliver the packages
that have been loaded on a truck. UPS developed a system called On-Road Integrated
Optimization and Navigation (ORION) which dynamically routes its trucks based on
packages on the truck and traffic conditions. It is estimated that ORION saves UPS
about 10 million gallons of fuel per year. Is the decision of how to route a ruck a
strategic, tactical, or operational decision? Explain. LO 1
Solution
Because how to route a truck depends on the packages that need to be delivered that
day, the decision of how to route a truck is an operational decision.
3. Airline Decisions. JetBlue is a major U.S. airline that ranked seventh in the United
States in 2021 based on number of passengers carried. JetBlue has 270 aircraft and
services 104 destinations. Consider three decisions below that an airline like JetBlue
must make. For each decision, tell if it is strategic, tactical, or operational and explain.
LO 1
a. Which crew should be assigned to a given flight?
b. Should we compete on low cost or quality?
c. What type of aircraft should we purchase?
Solution
a. Which crew should be assigned to a given flight is a decision that needs to be
made daily, so it is an operational decision.
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 1
website, in whole or in part.
, b. To compete on low cost versus quality sets the direction of the airline, so it is s
strategic decision.
c. The type of aircraft to purchase is not a daily decision, but one that does concern
how the airline will achieve its strategy. So, the type of aircraft to purchase is a
tactical decision. For example, a low-cost strategy might be best supported
tactically by purchasing planes that have no first-class seats.
4. Choosing A College. Millions of high school graduates decide annually to enroll in a
college or university. Many factors can influence a student’s choice of where to enroll.
List the five steps of the decision-making process and discuss each step of the
process, where the decision to be made is choosing which college to attend. LO 2
Solution
1. Identify and define the problem. Choosing where to enroll, given the set of schools
to which the student gained admission, is the decision to be made.
2. Determine the criteria that will be used to evaluate alternative solutions. Criteria
to be considered might include, cost, amount of financial aid received, location,
and academic reputation of the school.
3. Determine the set of alternative solutions. The set of alternative solutions from
which to choose is the set of colleges and universities that granted the student
admission.
4. Evaluate the alternatives. Using the importance the student places on each of the
factors listed in step 2, evaluate each offer of admission.
5. Choose an alternative. Based on the evaluation in step 4, the student can rank
order the schools offering admission, trade off the pros and cons for each school
for each factor, and choose to enroll in the school ranked number one.
5. Package Delivery (Revisited). Consider again the ORION system discussed in problem 2.
Is ORION an example of descriptive, predictive, or prescriptive analytics? Explain.
LO 3
Solution
ORION provides a course of action (the route to the next delivery spot), so it is an
example of prescriptive analytics.
6. Quality Control for Boxes of Cereal. A control chart is a graphical tool to help
determine if a process is in control or out of control. The following figure shows a
control chart for a production line that fills boxes of cereal. Based on past data, we
can calculate the mean weight of a box of cereal when the process is in control. The
mean weight is 16.05 ounces. We can also calculate control limits, an upper control
limit (UCL) and a lower control limit (LCL). New samples are collected over time and
the data indicates that the process is in control so long as the new sample weights are
between UCL and LCL. As shown in the chart, only sample 5 is outside of the control
limits. LO 3
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 2
website, in whole or in part.
, a. Is the control chart an example of descriptive, predictive, or prescriptive analytics?
b. Suppose the control cart is part of a data dashboard and the chart is combined
with a rule that does the following. If four consecutive sample mean weights are
outside of the control limits, the production line is automatically stopped, and a
message appears on the dashboard. The message says “The production line is
stopped. The process may be out of control. Please inspect the fill machine.” Is
this new enhanced control chart combined with a rule an example of descriptive,
predictive, or prescriptive analytics?
Solution
a. The control chart simply describes the production data, so it is descriptive
analytics.
b. The new enhanced control chart combines a descriptive tool (the chart) with a rule
that causes a course of action to take place. Hence, the new rule-based system is
an example of prescriptive analytics.
7. Amazon Books. An example of a response from Amazon when this textbook you are
reading was chosen online, is given below. It indicates that some people who purchased
this text also tended to purchase The World Is Flat, Fundamentals of Corporate Finance,
and Strategic Marketing Management. In this application of analytics, is Amazon using
descriptive, predictive, or prescriptive analytics? Explain. LO 3
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 3
website, in whole or in part.
, Solution
Amazon is describing other books that tend to be purchased with the text Business
Analytics, based on past consumer purchases. Therefore, this is an example of
descriptive analytics.
8. Employee Retention. Human Resource (HR) Analytics or People analytics are terms
used for the use of analytics to manage a company’s workforce. Google, Microsoft, and
Walmart, for example, use people analytics to help retain their best people, ensure a
diverse workforce, and better understand the strengths and areas needing
improvement. LO 3, 4
a. One application of people analytics is to build a model that estimates the
probability of an employee departing the company within the next six months.
Inputs to the model could be market demand for the skills the person possesses,
how long the person has been with the company, and a major life event recently
occurring for the person (for example, divorce). Is this type of model descriptive,
predictive, or prescriptive? Explain.
b. How could you use the model described in part (a) to help improve the workforce?
Solution
a. Since the model estimates a probability, that is, how likely it is that a person will
depart the company in the next six months, it is an example of predictive analytics.
It predicts how likely a person is to depart in the next 6 months.
b. The predictive model could be used to improve the workforce by applying a rule to
the model to make it prescriptive. For example, a rule might be “for a high-
performing employee, if the estimated probability of departure is greater than 0.4,
proactively give a 10% increase in salary to that person, with the hope that the
person will likely stay.”
9. Supermarket Checkout Lanes. A supermarket has been experiencing long lines during
peak periods of the day. The problem is noticeably worse on certain days of the week,
and the peak periods are sometimes different according to the day of the week. There
are usually enough workers on the job to open all checkout lanes. The problem is
knowing when to call some of the workers stocking shelves up to the front of the
store to work the checkout lanes. LO 4
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 4
website, in whole or in part.
