Contents:

• Course Information

• Textbook

• Course Description and Objectives

• Learning Outcomes

• Evaluation

• Course Schedule

• Software and Essential Utilities

Course Information:

• Title: Managerial Model Building

• Course number: BA 690H

• Instructor: Mohammad Reza Oskoorouchi

• Office: CRA 2222

• Telephone :  750-4219

• E-mail: moskooro@csusm.edu

• Homepage: http://public.csusm.edu/oskoorouchi
  

• Course page: http://courses.csusm.edu/ba690hmo

• Password protected course page: http://courses.csusm.edu/ba690hmo/download

• Class hours:  T 1900 - 2145

• Office hours: T 1800 - 1900, R 1400 - 1600 or by appointment

Textbook:

Required Text:

Winston and Albright, "Practical Management Science", Duxbury, Second Edition 2001. This text book has a homepage, where you can find templates of some examples.

References:

• B. Render, R. Stair and N. Balakrishnan, "Managerial Decision Modeling with Spreadsheets", Prentice-Hall (2003)

• Dimitris Bertsimas and Robert M. Freund,   "Data, Models and Decisions: The Fundamentals of Management Science", second edition 2005.

• Moore, Weatherford, Eppen, Gould & Schmidt , " Decision Modeling with Microsoft Excel", Sixth Edition, Prentice-Hall, 2001.

• B. W. Taylor III, "Introduction to management Science", Eight Edition, Prentice-Hall (2004).

• J. A.  Lawrence and B. A. Pasternack, "Applied Management Science", Second Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2002).

Course description and objectives:

Course Description: Today's business problems tend to be very complex, and approaches such as business experience, intuition, and thoughtful guesswork can no longer be applied to resolve managerial situations. But common sense and intuition go only so far in the solution of the complex problems business now face. This is where decision models are so useful. When the methods discussed in this course are implemented in user-friendly computer software packages and are then applied to complex problems, the results can be amazing.

The power of the methods in this course is that they are applicable to so many problems and environments. The following is a short list of success stories where management science has been applied: (1) United Airlines installed one of DFI's systems, which cost between $10 million and $20 million. United expects the system to add $50 million to $100 million annually to its revenue. (2) The Gap clothing chain uses management science to determine exactly how many employees should staff each store during the Christmas rush. (3) Management Science has helped medical researchers test potentially dangerous drugs on fewer people with better results. (4) Hotels, airlines, and television broadcasters all use management science to implement a new method called "yield management". In this method different prices are charged to different customers depending on their willingness to pay. The effect is that more customers are attract and revenues increases.

The purpose of this course is to expose you to variety of problems that have been solved successfully with management science methods and to give you experience in modeling these problems in the Excel Spreadsheet package. Our intent in this course is to emphasize the applied aspects of management science.

Learning Outcomes:

Following this course the students should be able to

• Formulate a managerial situation into a Mathematical Model with linear variables
• Formulate a managerial situation into a Mathematical Model with integer variables
• Formulate a managerial situation into a Mathematical Model with nonlinear variables
• Define decision variables, constraints and objective functions.
• Create and solve an optimization model in a spreadsheet.
• Interpret the "Excel solver" by sensitivity analysis.
• Formulate transportation and transshipment models and solve them using Excel spreadsheet.
• Solve a discrete optimization problem using the Branch-and-Bound Method.
• Analyze a decision model under uncertainty and develop decision trees and payoff tables.
• Create utility functions establish decision rules based on this function.
• Develop simulation models and use Crystal Ball or @Risk to solve the model

Evaluation:

Your course grade will be based on

• Weekly case write-ups and homework assignments (40%)

• Midterm Exam (25%)

• Final project and presentation (25%)

• Class participation (10%)

Case write-ups:
 

Each case study will require a written case report and the use of computer software. It should be appropriate as a consulting report. Students are encouraged to work in a team for case reports. The size of teams is determined based on the enrolment.

The general plan of a case report should be as follows:

• A clear summary of the issues raised by the case.

• A clear, concise summary of the recommendations for the specific actions to be taken targeted at the manager who may decide to implement these recommendations.

• A detailed analysis and explanation of the analytical approach followed by the students in solving the case.

Homework assignments:

Homework assignments are designed to help you learn the mechanics of the methods discussed in class and to give you an opportunity to apply these concepts in a straightforward manner. In addition to their value as learning exercises, doing a careful and thorough job on the homework assignments is the best preparation for the midterm exam. Homework assignments should be done individually.
 

Team project:

The objective of this is to permit students to tailor the course to their own interests, whether they are in Finance, Marketing, Accounting, Manufacturing, Systems, .... The project is designed to acquaint students with one specific area of modeling and optimization. Each team is required to present their findings and hand in a report. Each team must submit a one-page proposal on or before April 12.

The team project involves using optimization and or simulation in solving a real-world problem, ideally one involving your workplace.

List of Topics (Non-exhaustive)

Portfolio Selection Models.
Banking Applications: Loans, Bond Portfolios, etc.
Housing Industry Applications.
Marketing Applications: Salesmen Allocation, Advertising Mix ...
Accounting and Control Applications: Transfer Pricing, Decentralization, Allocation of Fixed Costs, etc.....
Personnel Management Applications. Classroom and Course Scheduling Problems.
Applications to Urban Problems: Firemen, Police, Garbage, Schooling, etc....
Applications to Criminal Studies.
Public Mass Transit Systems.
Airline Crew Scheduling.
Job Shop Scheduling.
Equipment Maintenance and Renewal.
Hospital Admissions Policies.
 

References:

Decision Science
Interfaces
Journal of the Operational Research Society
Operations Research
Management Science
ORSA Journal on Computing
European Journal of Operations Research
International Abstracts in O.R. (IFORS)
Naval Research Logistics Quarterly
Transportation Science.
 

Grading Procedure:

Tentative Course Schedule:

Grade Statistics

Survey Result

 

Date	Topics	Assignments, notes, lab files, ...
January 18	Introduction	Introduction.ppt  Spreadsheet.ppt GreatThreads.xls QuantityDiscount.xls
Jan 25	Linear Programming models	Optimization 1 nbs.xls   Practice assignment 1 Solution to Practice Assignment 1   Assig 1: Shelby Shelving case
Feb 1	Linear Programming models	Optimization 2 Pigskin.xls Postal.xls   Solution to Shelby Shelving Case Assig 2: Problem solving
Feb 8	Linear Programming models	Review   Assignment 3
Feb 15	Linear Programming models We will discuss the case Red Brand Canners in class. Please be prepared.	Red Brand Canners Assignment 4 Solution to Quiz 1 Solution to Assignment 2 Solution to Assignment 3
Feb 22	Linear Programming models	Solution to Red Brand   Optimization 3 Solution to SureStep Assign 5: Lakefield Corporation's Oil Trading Desk Case
Mar 1	Transportation models	Transport 1   Transport.xls RedBrand1.xls BusRoutes.xls   Solution to Assignment 5 Assignment 6: Optimized Motor Carrier Selection at Westvaco.
Mar 8	Integer Programming	ILP 1   Threads.xls Nickles.xls Simkin.xls Assignment 7: Giant Motor Company I Solution to Assignment 7
Mar 15	Integer Programming	ILP 2 A sample exam Solution   Huntco.xls Western1.xls Western2.xls Assignment 8: Supply Chain Management at Dellmar Inc.
Mar 22	Midterm exam
Mar 29	Spring Break
Apr 5	Decision Theory	Solution to Assignment 8 Final Project  TREEPLAN.XLA
Apr 12	Decision Theory	Decision1 b-w-balls.xls PosteriorProbability.xls   Assignment 9: To drill or not to drill. Solution to Assignment 9
Apr 19	Simulation Assign 9 due Project Proposal due	Simulation 1 Crystal Ball Tutorial   FuturaApartments.xls Newproduct.xls VR.xls   Assignment 10 Solution to Assignment 10
Apr 26	Simulation   Assign 10 due	Reading: Gentile Lentil Restaurant Solution to Gentile Lentil
May 3	Group presentation	Presentations

NOTE: It is the student’s responsibility to understand and follow the University Policies as stated in the catalog.

Software and Essential Utilities:

1. Microsoft EXCEL is used for assignments, cases and project.

2. You may need the following utilities:

• To read PDF (Portable Document Format) files: Acrobat Reader .

• To get a zip/unzip program: Winzip

• To read or print Postscript files: Ghostview