PART I: FORECASTING IN MARKETING AND SALES Optimizing Resources to Better Forecast Future Profits - Kathleen Campbell Garwood, Alicia Graziosi Strandberg and Nicolle Clements Brand Experience and Customer Equity Prediction - Arthur Cheng-Hsui Chen, Shaw K. Chen and Chien-Lin Ma A Comparative Evaluation of Intermittent Demand Forecasting with Updated Smoothing Constants - Matthew Lindsey and Robert Pavur PART II: FORECASTING IN HEALTH CARE Forecasting Pain and Discomfort for Canines with Disease for Establishing Appropriate Medication Levels - Virginia M. Miori, Zhenpeng Miao and Yingdao Qu Honing a Predictive Model to Accurately Forecast the Number of Bed Days Needed to Cover Patient Volume for a Large Hospital System - Alan D. Olinsky, Kristin Kennedy and Michael Salzillo Can Rationality of USDA’s Fixed-Event Crop Forecasts Be Improved? - Ran Xie, Olga Isengildina-Massa and Julia L. Sharp PART III: FORECASTING IN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS Business School Forecasting for the Real World - John F. Kros and William J. Rowe Forecasting the Operating Income of MetLife - Kenneth D. Lawrence, Gary Kleinman and Sheila M. Lawrence Forecasting the Population Growth in China Based on the Welfare Efficiency and Demographic Statistics - Feng Yang, Yuan Yang and Zhimin Huang PART IV: TOPICS IN FORECASTING Modeling Los Angeles Water Leaks Using Different Measures of Temperature - Daniel E. O’Leary How Information Spreads in Online Social Networks - Christopher J. Quinn, Matthew J. Quinn, Alan D. Olinsky and John T. Quinn Is There a Home Run Derby Curse? - Daniel E. O’Leary

Edited by Kenneth D. Lawrence, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA Ronald K. Klimberg, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA, USA