Using other software.

Hi all,

Some have asked if one could use other software such as MS Access instead of Excel to get to the same point.

Sure one can. Kindly feel free to use any software you are comfy with (as long as it is reliable) but make sure your methods are able to answer the sample questions raised. Often times, one may need to use a combination of software programs to get something done.

The tools are but means. We are interested in the ends here. Insights from the analysis are more important than the particular tools used.

If someone has used tools other than MS Excel and would like to show how it is done, pls writeup a half-page set of step wise instructions and let me know, shall post it here.

Keep this dataset safe. We'll return to it mighty soon. Lots of secondary data based advanced analysis (as opposed to the basic analysis we did in class) can be done. For example - some elementary choice models can be fitted to the data to answer questions like: "How much does sales change when promotion is changed by 1%? distribution changed by 1%? How much does my sales gets impacted when competition promotes 1% more in aggregate?" Etc.

We'll get there soon enough.

Take care and have a happy n' safe diwali

Sudhir