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Management Science and Operations Research Textbooks
There's a lot you can learn from textbooks in the
fields of operations research and management science, where the
optimization methods used by the Solver were first developed and
applied. There are many "classic" optimization problems,
for transporting goods, blending materials, scheduling personnel,
etc. that are similar across many industries. So it pays to consult
books like the ones listed below! If your first acquaintance with
optimization came from a course in an MBA program (long ago), these
books will serve as a refresher. If you're new to optimization but
serious about learning more, these books are a valuable resource.
| Management Science: The Art of Modeling with Spreadsheets,
2nd Edition |
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by Stephen G. Powell and Kenneth R. Baker, published by John
Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-470-03840-3.
This new textbook (2nd Edition 2007) is a valuable aid for
anyone using the Premium Solver or Premium Solver Platform, especially for users
building large-scale models. Unlike any other current textbook, this book
teaches you "best practices" in modeling and spreadsheet engineering,
as well as techniques of linear and nonlinear optimization, Monte Carlo
simulation, and data analysis using Excel. The Premium Solver for Education is
included on CD-ROM with this book, but this version is much less powerful than
the commercial Premium Solver or Premium Solver Platform.
Spreadsheet Modeling and Decision Analysis:
A Practical Introduction to Management Science, 5th Edition |
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by Cliff T. Ragsdale, published by South-Western College
Publishing. ISBN 0-324-31256-3.
Cliff Ragsdale's book was first to base all of its
optimization examples on the Microsoft Excel Solver, and it has become the
best-selling MBA textbook for management science. You'll find
a discussion of linear, nonlinear and integer programming; an
explanation of sensitivity analysis and how to use the Solver's
reports; topics like goal programming and multiobjective
optimization; and additional coverage of regression, time series
analysis, queuing, project management, decision analysis, and
other topics. The 5th Edition features updated coverage of the Excel Solver, more extensive
coverage of nonlinear programming, and coverage of nonsmooth optimization using
Frontline Systems' Evolutionary Solver. It includes the Premium Solver for
Education on CD-ROM.
| Practical Management Science:
Spreadsheet Modeling and Applications, 3rd Edition |
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by S. Christian Albright and Wayne L. Winston, published by
Duxbury Press. ISBN 0-534-46512-9.
This textbook, widely used in new MBA courses on management science, provides an
extensive introduction covering linear and integer programming, nonlinear
optimization, and genetic and evolutionary algorithms using Frontline’s
Evolutionary Solver, as well as other management science topics.
This book is slightly more challenging than Cliff Ragsdale's book, but
includes an extensive set of spreadsheet models and a whole chapter on the
Evolutionary Solver. It also includes the Premium
Solver for Education on CD-ROM.
| Optimization Modeling with
Spreadsheets |
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by Kenneth Baker, published by Duxbury Press, ISBN
0-534-49474-9.
This book focuses entirely on optimization using Excel and the
Premium Solver for Education, which is included on CD-ROM. It covers linear
programming, sensitivity analysis, network models, data envelope analysis, and
integer programming methods in greater depth than the general management science
textbooks; but its coverage of nonlinear optimization and the Evolutionary
Solver is at about the same level as the books by Ragsdale and Winston &
Albright.
| Introduction to Mathematical
Programming, 4th Edition |
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by Wayne Winston and Munirpallam Venkataramanan, published by
Duxbury Press. ISBN 0-534-35964-7.
This book focuses entirely on optimization, at a more
technical level than the textbooks described above - including topics in linear
algebra, the Simplex method, goal programming, integer programming and the
Branch & Bound method, and the differential calculus topics underlying
nonlinear optimization. It also includes the Premium Solver for Education on
CD-ROM.
| Managerial Spreadsheet Modeling
and Analysis |
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by Rick Hesse, published by Richard D. Irwin. ISBN
0-256-21530-8.
This "good, but hard to find" book teaches you how to formulate a model from a complex
business situation, using a four-step process: Picture and
paraphrase, verbal model, algebraic model and spreadsheet model.
It covers types of models ranging from simple goal-seeking and
unconstrained problems to linear, nonlinear and integer
programming problems. And it includes over 100 Microsoft Excel
5.0 spreadsheets, covering a wide range of both deterministic and
stochastic models.
| Model Building in Mathematical
Programming, 4th Edition |
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By H.P. Williams, published by John Wiley. ISBN 0-471-99788-9
Though it doesn't cover spreadsheet optimization, this book is still valuable for
its explanation of model-building approaches, especially if you are building
larger-scale optimization models. It provides an in-depth treatment of modeling
for linear and integer programming problems.
It mentions nonlinear models only briefly, but it offers a unique
treatment of large-scale model structure and decomposition methods. It also
includes a complete discussion of 24 models drawn from various industries.
The 4th Edition was issued in October 1999.
| Introductory Management Science:
Decision Modeling with Spreadsheets |
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by G.D. Eppen, F.J. Gould, C.P. Schmidt, Jeffrey H. Moore, and
Larry R. Weatherford, published by Prentice-Hall. ISBN
0-13-889395-0.
The latest version (5th Edition, 1998) of a management science
classic, this modern textbook covers linear, integer and nonlinear optimization,
Monte Carlo simulation, decision analysis, queuing, forecasting and project
management, all from an Excel spreadsheet perspective. Also included is GLP, a graphic tool that lets you
visualize the feasible region in linear programming problems.
| The Science of Decision-Making: A
Problem-Based Approach Using Excel |
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by Eric V. Denardo, published by John Wiley. ISBN
0-471-31827-2.
This book focuses on models for decision-making,
in deterministic (certain) and stochastic (uncertain)
settings. The first and last sections of the book cover linear
programming and integer programming extensively, but not nonlinear
or nonsmooth optimization. The middle sections cover
probability, utility theory and decision trees, Markov chains,
queuing and simulation. This book includes a good discussion
of basic Excel use and spreadsheet model design -- useful for
readers who are not highly experienced with Microsoft Excel.
| Operations Research: Applications
and Algorithms, Third Edition |
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by Wayne L. Winston, published by Duxbury Press. ISBN
0-534-52020-0 (with Windows software), 0-534-20973-4 (with Mac
software).
This popular textbook, also written before the advent of
spreadsheet optimizers, covers many classic optimization problems
and also includes a discussion of some of the algorithms used in
the Solver, such as the Simplex method for linear programming,
the Branch & Bound method for integer programming, and
selected methods for nonlinear programming -- as well as many
other topics in operations research.
Back to Solver Models - Recommended Books
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