Decision Analysis Tools
in Excel
Technology Plug-In: T3
Learning Outcomes
1. Describe the use of a PivotTable
2. Summarize the tools used when building a
PivotTable
3. Compare the functions of Goal Seek and
Solver
4. List the advantages of using the Scenario
Manager
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Introduction
1.
The PivotTable function is an organization and analysis
tool that displays fields and records
2.
The Goal Seek function is used to find an unknown
value that produces a desired result
3.
The Solver function is used to calculate an optimum
solution based on several variables and constraints
4.
The Scenario Manager function is used to create and
evaluate a collection of “what-if” scenarios containing
multiple input values
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PivotTables
 A PivotTable analyzes, summarizes, and
manipulates data in large lists, databases,
worksheets, or other collections
 PivotTables offer flexible and intuitive analysis of
data
 The data in the data area of the PivotTable
cannot be directly entered or changed
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PivotTable Terminology
 Row field - a row orientation in a PivotTable report and
are displayed as row labels
 Column field - a column orientation in a PivotTable
report and are displayed as column labels
 Data field - list or table contain summary data in a
PivotTable, such as numeric data
 Page field - filter out the data for other items and display
one page at a time in a PivotTable report
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Build a PivotTable with the Data, PivotTable, and PivotChart
Report option, which displays a series of PivotTable Wizard
dialog boxes
The wizard steps through the process of creating a
PivotTable
Using the PivotTable Feature
 Select the PivotTable Data worksheet from the
Analysis Data.xls workbook
Click any cell in the list
Excel knows to use the data in the Excel list to create a
PivotTable
 Choose Data, PivotTable and PivotChart
Report
 The PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard — Step 1
of 3 dialog box opens
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In the “Where Is the Data That You Want to Analyze?” area,
choose Microsoft Excel List or Database
In the “What Kind of Report Do You Want to Create?” area,
choose PivotTable
Click the Next button
The PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard — Step 2 of 3
dialog box opens
In the Range box, the range should be
$A$1:$E$49
Click the Next button
The “PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard — Step 3 of 3” dialog
box opens. This is used to tell Excel whether to place the
PivotTable on an existing or new worksheet
Select New Worksheet
Click the Layout button
Excel opens the “PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard –
Layout” dialog box. The fields appear on buttons to the
right in the dialog box.
The four areas you can define to create your PivotTable are
ROW, COLUMN, DATA, and PAGE.
Drag the field buttons to the areas to define the layout of the PivotTable
Drag the Region button to the COLUMN area
Drag the Magazine button to the ROW area
Drag the Month button to the PAGE area
Drag the Sale button to the DATA area
Click OK to return to the “PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard — Step 3 of
3” dialog box
Click the Finish button
After a PivotTable is built, modifications can be done at any time
Drag the buttons off the diagram, and arrange the fields like this:
Magazine in the PAGE area
Month in the COLUMN area
Sale in the DATA area
Sales Rep in the ROW area
PivotTable Tools
 PivotTable - A menu that contains commands for
working with a PivotTable
 Format Report - Enables the user to format the
PivotTable report
 Chart Wizard - Enables the user to create a chart using
the data in the PivotTable
 Hide Detail - Hides the detail information in a PivotTable
and shows only the totals
 Show Detail - Shows the detail information in a
PivotTable
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PivotTable Tools
 Refresh External Data refresh the data in the PivotTable
after changes to data are made in the data source
 Include Hidden Items in Totals
 Always Display Items - Always shows the field item
buttons with drop-down arrows in the PivotTable
 Field Settings - Displays the PivotTable Field dialog box
so that the user can change computations and their
number format
 Hide Field List - Hides and shows the PivotTable Field
List window
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Building PivotChart
 PivotChart - a column chart (by default) that is based on
the data in a PivotTable
 Click the Chart Wizard on the PivotTable toolbar
 Excel will automatically create a new worksheet, labeled
Chart 1, and display the current PivotTable information in
chart form
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Goal Seek
 Goal Seek - an analytical function, which allows
a value in a formula to be adjusted in order to
reach a desired result or answer
 The Goal Seek feature can eliminate
unnecessary calculations
 Goal Seek repeatedly tries new values in the
variable cell to find a solution to the problem
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Using the Goal Seek Command
 Choose Tools, Goal Seek
 Specify the cell that contains the desired value in the Set cell
text box
 Enter the desired value or answer in the To value text box
 Enter the cell whose value will be changed in the By changing
cell text box
 Choose OK
 If a solution is found, the Goal Seek Status dialog box
appears
 Select OK
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Solver
 Solver - part of a suite of functions sometimes called
what-if analysis tools
 Solver is used when forecasting a problem contains
more than one variable
 Solver uses multiple changing variables and constraints
to find the optimal solution to solve a problem
 If Solver has not already been installed, do the following:
Open Excel and go to Tools, Add-Ins
After clicking Add-Ins, scroll down to Solver Add-in
and click the box
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Build a worksheet, set up the table similar to Figure T3.10:
To reach the specified amount of total revenue (G4) by determining
regular coffee cups needed to sell (D5)
premium latte cups needed to sell (D9)
premium mocha cups needed to sell (D13)
subjected to three constraints (G11, G12, G13)
=D5
=D4*D5
=D9+D13
=G6+G7
=D8*D9
=D12*D13
Setting Up the Problem
 Choose Tools, Solver
 Select $G$4 into the “Set Target Cell:” text box
 In the “By Changing Cells:” text box, select each of the
variable cells by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking
D5, D9, and D13
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Setting Up the Problem
 Add three constraints to the “Subject to the Constraints:”
text box in the Solver Parameters dialog
 Click Solve to calculate the result
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Setting Up the Problem
 Solver displays a dialog box describing the results of the
optimization analysis
 To display the new solution in the worksheet, click the
Keep Solver Solution option button, and then click OK
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Editing A Solver Forecast
 Choose Tools, Solver
 Click the Value Of option button and type 800 in the text
box to the right
The Value Of option button sets the target cell to a
particular goal to determine the variable mix needed
to reach the milestone
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Editing A Solver Forecast
 Click Solve and then OK butoon to find a solution to the
problem
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Scenario Manager
 Scenario - a set of input values and
corresponding results from calculations that
Excel can save and report as needed
 A worksheet can be used to conduct a “what-if”
analysis on a particular set of data
 Excel’s Scenario Manager allows 32 different
scenarios or groups of values to be defined
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Setting Up Scenarios
 Each group of input values or scenario must be named
and stored before it can be used
 Open the worksheet Scenario Data.xls
 Select the cells containing the first set of values to store
in a scenario
 On the toolbar, select Tools, Scenarios
 Click Add to display the Add Scenario dialog box
 Enter Original for the Scenario name
 In the Changing Cells text box, use the Collapse Dialog
button to manually select the cells that hold the Number
of Technicians, Regular Hours, and Over Time Hours
values (D9:D11)
 Choose OK
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Setting Up Scenarios
 The Scenario Values dialog box will display the values
for cells D9, D10, and D11 as 1, 300, and 0
 Click OK
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Setting Up Scenarios
 Click Add
 In the Add Scenario dialog box, type Single Contractor
Overtime
 Click OK
 In the Scenario Values dialog box for cell D10, type 300,
for cell D11 enter 40, and the value in D9 remains at 1
 Click OK
 Ensure that the Single Contractor Overtime scenario is
selected, and click Show
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Single Contractor Overtime
Setting Up Scenarios
 Click Add
 In the Add Scenario dialog box, type Two Contractors
No Overtime
 Click OK
 In the Scenario Values dialog box
Enter 2 in the text box for cell D9 and 0 in the text box
for cell D11
In cell D10’s text box, type =300/2
 Click OK, a message box says that Excel converted the
formula into a value
 Click OK to dismiss the message
 Click Show
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Modifying A Scenario
 Once scenarios have been defined, the data
values can be modified
 To modify a Scenario:
1. Choose Tools, Scenarios
2. Select the desired Scenario name
3. Choose Edit
4. Modify the Scenario information, as desired
5. Close the Scenario Manager dialog box
 Compare the Scenarios
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Creating a Scenario Summary Report
 Choose Tools, Scenarios
 Choose Summary
 Choose Scenario summary in the Report type group
box
 In the Result cells text box, type in D7, D12, D15, D16,
D17
Result cells are the cells affected by the specified
scenario
 Choose OK
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