International Journal of Forecasting 22 (2006) 823 824
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijforecast
Book review
John E. Hanke, Dean W. Wichern, Business
Forecasting (8th edition), Pearson, Prentice Hall,
New Jersey, 2005, Softcover (software enclosed),
535 pages, ISBN: 0-13-122856-0
This is the 8th edition of a well established title
commonly used by Colleges and Universities
worldwide. Having read editions 57 (1995, 1998
and 2001 respectively), I have often referred back
to those for teaching related purposes and have
been pleased to find that the last edition has been
substantially revised to reflect changes in the
relevant knowledge base. Although the bflavourQ
of earlier editions has naturally been retained,
added emphasis has been placed on the more
recent theoretical developments and empirical find-
ings. Outdated material has been eliminated and the
book has been considerably re-organised with the
addition of new problems, examples, datasets and
cases.
The goal of the 8th edition of Business Fore-
casting remains the same as that of the previous
editions: to present the basic statistical techniques
that are useful for preparing individual business
forecasts and long-range plans. The book is written
in a simple, straightforward style and it makes
extensive use of practical business examples. Fifty-
three cases are outlined, throughout the chapters,
providing the student with the necessary link
between theoretical concepts and their real-world
applications, thereby emphasising the application of
techniques by management for decision making.
Students are assumed to have taken an introductory
course in Statistics and to be comfortable with
using the computer to access software packages
such as spreadsheets. Minitab and Excel instruc-
tions are presented at the end of most chapters.
Crystal Ball (CB) Predictor instructions are pre-
sented at the end of chapters 4 bMoving Averages
doi:10.1016/j.ijforecast.2006.03.006
and Smoothing MethodsQ and 9 bThe BoxJenkins
(ARIMA) MethodologyQ. A student solutions man-
ual consisting of answers to various problems is
included in the enclosed CD, along with useful
ASCII, Excel and Minitab data files. Perhaps the
most interesting aspect of the CD is the inclusion
of the student version of Crystal Ball predictor (an
Excel add-in).
The book is, conceptually, divided into six
sections. Section 1 (Chapters 12) presents back-
ground material. A discussion on the nature of
forecasting and a quick review of basic statistical
concepts (sampling distributions, inference from a
sample, hypothesis testing, correlation analysis, etc.)
set the stage for the coverage of techniques that
begins in the second section.
The second section (Chapter 3) emphasises the
exploration of data patterns for the purpose of
choosing a forecasting technique. The third section
(Chapters 45) covers averaging, smoothing techni-
ques and an introduction to time series decomposition
in terms of underlying components. The fourth section
(Chapters 67) emphasises causal forecasting techni-
ques, such as correlation, regression and multiple
regression analysis.
The fifth section (Chapters 89) looks at techni-
ques used to forecast time series data (Regression with
time series data and the BoxJenkins methodology).
The book concludes with a final section (Chapters
1011) on judgemental forecasting and forecast
adjustments, along with a discussion of managing
and monitoring the forecasting process.
In summary, this is a very comprehensive account
covering, predominantly, standard material in the area
of business forecasting. The book is very well
structured and is organised in a way that will assist
students to understand the relevant theoretical con-
cepts and the corresponding practical applications.
Although the core of the book remains the same as
824 Book review

that of the previous editions, it is worthwhile A. A. Syntetos

pointing out the considerable re-structuring, re- University of Salford, The School of Management,
organisation and enrichment of the material presented Maxwell Building, The Crescent,
to reflect more recent advancements in the area of Salford M5 4WT, United Kingdom
business forecasting. E-mail address: a.syntetos@salford.ac.uk.