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XLSTAT-PLSPM is the only software that allows using the PLS approach (PLS Path modeling) without leaving Microsoft Excel. The first presentation of the finalized PLS approach to path models with latent variables was published by Herman Wold in 1979, with further works on the algorithm published in 1982 and 1985. Then, Wold's work was continued by J.-B. Lohmöller (1989) who formalized the method from the mathematical point of view before developing the LVPLS software where the PLS algorithm was enriched by a few validation procedures. After Lohmöller's contribution, the method was somehow forgotten, and it is only since a decade that it has been rediscovered by Wynne W. Chin in the domain of Information Systems and then by Michel Tenenhaus and Vincenzo Esposito Vinzi in the domain of Statistics, and further developed thanks to the efforts of several researchers from diverse disciplines at both the methodological and the application level.
The PLS approach is a powerful data exploration tool, as soon a you are in a case where you can define concepts that cannot be directly measured (the latent variables) and are interconnected (one can draw a causal graph), but that can be related to measured variables (the manifest variables). This method is in many cases an alternative to the SEM methods (Structural Equation Modeling), and a powerful substitute in the cases where SEM cannot be used.
XLSTAT-PLSPM implements all methodological features and most recent findings of the PLEASURE (Partial LEAst Squares strUctural Relationship Estimation) technology. This technology has been originally developed as a research tool at the academic level by Y.M. Chatelin and V. Esposito Vinzi in co-operation with C. Lauro and M. Tenenhaus. The partnership Addinsoft has established with them allows to keep XLSTAT-PLSPM at the top of the edge, while making the solution available to anyone.
Thanks to an intuitive and flexible interface, XLSTAT-PLSPM allows to build the graphical representation of the model, then to fit the model, display the results in Excel either as tables or graphical views. As XLSTAT-PLSPM is totally integrated with the XLSTAT suite, it is possible to further analyze the results with the other XLSTAT features.
An in-depth description of the method is available in the XLSTAT help documents. Furthermore, a tutorial demonstrates how to create a PLSPM model and to interpret the results.
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