Patent ID: 8374897

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium to direct a computer to function in a specified manner, comprising executable instructions to: generate a set of qualitative assessments for different variables within a data set recorded over a specified number of periods among a plurality of business records; convert the set of qualitative assessments to a corresponding set of quantitative assessments using a pre-defined mapping between qualitative assessment values in the set of qualitative assessments and numeric values; identify, using a statistical test, at least two patterns present in the set of quantitative assessments, each pattern being a relationship between a plurality of data values, the statistical test being selected from a group consisting of: a Runs Test, a Mean Successive Squared Difference Test, an Autocorrelation Test, a Tukey Test, a Variance Test, and a Regression Analysis, the patterns being selected from a group consisting of: a linear pattern, a non-linear pattern, an outlier pattern, a cyclical pattern, and a random pattern; produce a quantitative forecast predicting future business performance from the set of quantitative assessments using the identified patterns; translate the quantitative forecast, using the pre-defined mapping, to a qualitative forecast predicting future business performance that provides a textual or graphical characterization of a record; and initiate display of the qualitative forecast.