Part Four
What-If Analysis
What-if analysis enables the user to find out what will be the impact of change. It can be a change of input data or a change in assumptions. The change can be presented in incremental modification of key values.
This part of the book shows you how to take advantage of these What-if tools in the decision-making process. This part demonstrates features such as naming cells for modeling, the Goal Seek, data tables (one- and two-way tables), and the effective use of scroll bars.
Goal Seek allows you to change one variable at a time in the decision models you build in spreadsheets. You can gain insight into the impact of inputs on the final goal. You will find out what the optimal input should be in order to reach a specific goal.
Data Tables enable you to evaluate the incremental change of specific input values on the results. You can change one or two variables simultaneously and watch the impact of these changes on your decision-influencing results.
This section also introduces the use of scroll bars as tools for changing inputs in a model. These scroll bars allow you to examine changes in more than two variables in a model simultaneously.
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