Modelling with decision support software to be an integral part of MBA courses

International business school, INSEAD (http://www.insead.edu), has purchased a licence for Palisade’s DecisionTools Suite that will provide every student at its campuses in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East with access to the decision support software. The move is in recognition that modelling and data analysis to enable informed business decisions should be an integral part of MBA training.

The DecisionTools Suite was selected as a result of researching the market, followed by internal evaluation of the three shortlisted products. Faculty users expressed a clear preference for Palisade’s tools due to their ease of use, the quality of the supporting materials and Palisade’s commitment to ongoing development of the software.

“Decision support software has been used at INSEAD for a long time, but on a more ad hoc basis,” explains Miguel Lobo, assistant professor of decision sciences at INSEAD. “However, we decided that modelling tools should be more easily accessible in any course, so that such tools can eventually be integrated throughout the curriculum wherever appropriate. Palisade’s DecisionTools Suite meets all the criteria we required, and will ensure that every MBA student leaves the school familiar with business tools for quantitative analysis and decision support.”

Depending on the objectives of each programme, The DecisionTools Suite will have a wide variety of applications. These include enabling students to learn about applications such as conducting a risk assessment to determine the uncertainty of the Net Present Value (NPV) for a new product launch, for example, or calculating the value of a real option in a business investment opportunity.

Craig Ferri, managing director of Palisade EMEA, comments: “INSEAD is recognised as a pioneer of international business education that continues to innovate across its programmes. Its purchase of the DecisionTools Suite recognises the philosophy that decision-making is a science that needs to be learned and equips its students, all of whom are future business leaders, with the tools to do this.”