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Applications Of Sensitivity Analysis To Business
Sensitivity analysis can be usefully applied to business problem, allowing the identification of those variables which may influence a business decision, such as e.g. an investment.A. Charnes, W. W. Cooper, A. Y. Lewin, R. C. Morey & J. Rousseau, Sensitivity and stability analysis in dea, ''Annals of Operations Research'' volume 2, p. 139–156 (1984) In a decision problem, the analyst may want to identify cost drivers as well as other quantities for which we need to acquire better knowledge to make an informed decision. On the other hand, some quantities have no influence on the predictions, so that we can save resources at no loss in accuracy by relaxing some of the conditions. See Corporate finance: Quantifying uncertainty. Additionally to the general motivations listed above, sensitivity analysis can help in a variety of other circumstances specific to business: * To identify critical assumptions or compare alternative model structures * To guide future data collections * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sensitivity Analysis
Sensitivity analysis is the study of how the uncertainty in the output of a mathematical model or system (numerical or otherwise) can be divided and allocated to different sources of uncertainty in its inputs. A related practice is uncertainty analysis, which has a greater focus on uncertainty quantification and propagation of uncertainty; ideally, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis should be run in tandem. The process of recalculating outcomes under alternative assumptions to determine the impact of a variable under sensitivity analysis can be useful for a range of purposes, including: * Testing the robustness of the results of a model or system in the presence of uncertainty. * Increased understanding of the relationships between input and output variables in a system or model. * Uncertainty reduction, through the identification of model input that cause significant uncertainty in the output and should therefore be the focus of attention in order to increase robustness (perh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cost Driver
According to the most simple definition, a cost driver is the unit of an activity that causes a change in the activity's cost: A different meaning is assigned to the term by Michael Porter: "cost drivers are the structural determinants of the cost of an activity, reflecting any linkages or interrelationships that affect it". This defines 'cost drivers' not just as a simple ''variable in a function'', but as something that ''changes the function'' itself. For example, the driver 'economy of scale' leads to different costs per unit for different scales of operation (a small cargo vessel is more expensive per unit than a large bulk carrier), and the driver 'capacity utilisation' leads to greater costs per unit if the capacity is uder-utilised and lower costs per unit is the utilisation is high. The Activity Based Costing (ABC) approach relates indirect cost to the activities that drive them to be incurred. Activity Based Costing is based on the belief that activities cause costs an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Correlation
In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statistics it usually refers to the degree to which a pair of variables are '' linearly'' related. Familiar examples of dependent phenomena include the correlation between the height of parents and their offspring, and the correlation between the price of a good and the quantity the consumers are willing to purchase, as it is depicted in the so-called demand curve. Correlations are useful because they can indicate a predictive relationship that can be exploited in practice. For example, an electrical utility may produce less power on a mild day based on the correlation between electricity demand and weather. In this example, there is a causal relationship, because extreme weather causes people to use more electricity for heating or cooling. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
