Abstract
Spreadsheets are ubiquitous in modern organizations. However, most of the tasks they are used for would be better served by more specialist applications. In this article, we highlight some of the abuses of spreadsheets – and the consequences. We explain why spreadsheets are inappropriate in many corporate situations and point readers to alternatives. Finally, we note that spreadsheets do have a very important role to play – as tools for prototyping.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ameden, D. (2011) Framingham discovers $1.5 million error, The MetroWest Daily News, 15 October, http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/top_stories/x1876834739/Framingham-discovers-1-5-million-error, accessed 6 August 2013.
Daily Express Reporter. (2011) Mouchel profits blow, Daily Express, 7 October, http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/276053/Mouchel-profits-blow, accessed 6 August 2013.
Davies, G.B. (1982) Caution: User-developed systems can be hazardous to your organization, Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Honeyball, J. (2013) Spreadsheets in the cloud: Are you feeling lucky? Bit, 15 July, http://www.bit.com.au/News/350063,spreadsheets-in-the-cloud-are-you-feeling-lucky.aspx, accessed 6 August 2013.
Janvrin, D. and Morrison, J. (2000a) Factors influencing risks and outcomes in end-user development, Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Kihei, Maui, Hawaii, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.103.4841, accessed 6 August 2013.
Janvrin, D. and Morrison, J. (2000b) Using a structured design approach to reduce risks in end user spreadsheet development. Information & Management 37 (1): 1–12.
Kelso, P. (2012) London 2012 Olympics: Lucky few to get 100 m final tickets after synchronised swimming was overbooked by 10 000, The Telegraph, 4 August, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/8992490/London-2012-Olympics-lucky-few-to-get-100m-final-tickets-after-synchronised-swimming-was-overbooked-by-10000.html, accessed 6 August 2013.
Panko, R.R. (1998) What we know about spreadsheet errors. Journal of End User Computing 10 (2): 15–21.
Panko, R.R. (2008) What we know about spreadsheet errors, revised version, http://panko.shidler.hawaii.edu/My%20Publications/Whatknow.htm, accessed 6 August 2013.
US Government. (2002) Public Law 107–204, 107th Congress, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ204/html/PLAW-107publ204.htm, accessed 6 August 2013.
Ward, M. (1997) Fatal addition, New Scientist, 16 August, http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15520952.100-fatal-addition.html, accessed 6 August 2013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tait, A., Richardson, K. When spreadsheets go bad. OR Insight 26, 270–277 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/ori.2013.8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ori.2013.8