DISC 212 Introduction to Management Science Spring 2013

Instructor Room No. Office Hours Email Telephone Course Basics Credit Hours Session(s) Labs (Total) Tutorials (per week) M. Adeel Zaffar 403 SDSB Building TBA adeel.zaffar@lums.edu.pk 8026 3 Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week (Tuesday/Thursday) A-12

2 7 1

Duration 75 min Duration 75 min Duration 90 min

COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is designed to provide students with a sound conceptual understanding of the role that management science plays in the decision making process. It is an important introductory course in developing decision models and understanding their application to management problems. The emphasis is on models and techniques that are widely used in all industries and functional areas, including operations, finance, accounting, and marketing. COURSE PREREQUISITES Sophomore standing. A keen interest in problem solving (logic, math, and statistics) and familiarity with Excel are required. COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES A. To develop in students an appreciation of the management science approach to problem formulation and solution B. To introduce students to various optimization techniques and particularly develop an understanding of linear programming problems C. To introduce students to basic networking models and their application in business decision making D. To introduce students to Queuing Theory and basic queuing models E. To introduce students to the basic concept of decision analysis and various techniques involved in evaluating different decision-making scenarios GRADING BREAKUP Attendance: 10% Quizzes: 10% Project: 10% Exams 1-3 (closed book, closed notes): 50% - lowest exam will be dropped Final Exam (comprehensive, open book, open notes): 20%

Textbook and supplemental material Spreadsheet Modeling & Decision Analysis by Cliff T. Ragsdale, 5th edition Any supplemental material and/or handouts will be made available via Zambeel ATTENDANCE Attendance is required. Frequent absences will not be accepted and the student may be dropped from the course in the event of 7 or more absences. Students are encouraged to inform the instructor in writing if they have any issues in terms of class attendance. QUIZZES All quizzes will be un-announced. No make-up quizzes will be given. Depending on the total number of quizzes given throughout the term, one or two quizzes may be dropped at the end. Students will not be allowed to make up any missed quiz. GROUP RPOJECT The group project will have to be drawn from a real life situation. A 1-2 page project proposal must be submitted by April 4, 2013. Your findings must be presented on April 30th or May 2nd. Excel files and accompanying analysis must be emailed a day before your groups presentation. Grade on the project will be awarded on the basis of your presentation and accompanying analysis. EXAMS Three in-class exams will be given during the semester. These exams will not be comprehensive and the lowest score will be dropped. A comprehensive final exam will also be given at the end. Students will not be allowed to make up any exam. Please note that the instructor reserves the right to modify any aspect of the course, the syllabus and/or the grading components if he deems it appropriate in view of the progress of the class.

Planned Lecture Schedule Date Tue Jan 22 Thu Jan 24 Lec # 1 2 Topic Course introduction & syllabus Introduction to Modeling Assigned Reading Syllabus Chapter 1 Learning Outcomes Develop an understanding of Modeling approach towards decision making Types of models Develop an understanding of The essential elements within mathematical optimization Characteristics of optimization problems Mathematical programming Basics of Linear programming (LP) Understand the approach towards modeling linear programming problems These lectures will focus on the use of a spreadsheet to setup a linear programming problem. By the end of these lectures, students should be able to comprehend and model the following range of problems: Make vs. buy decisions Investment problem Transportation problem Blending problem Production and inventory planning problem Multi-period cash flow problem Chapters 1 3 Chapter 4 Students should be able to Understand the purpose of sensitivity analysis Analyze the sensitivity reports generated in Excel Appreciate the benefits and limitations of sensitivity analysis

Tue Jan 29

Introduction to Optimization and Linear Programming

Chapter 2

Thu Jan 31 Thu Feb 7 Tue Feb 12 Thu Feb 14

4 5 6 7

LAB LECTURE Solving Linear Programming problems Modeling and Solving LPs in a Spreadsheet LAB LECTURE Modeling and Solving LPs

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Tue Feb 19

LAB LECTURE Modeling and Solving LPs in a Spreadsheet

Chapter 3

Thu Feb 21 Tue Feb 26 Thu Feb 28

9 10 11

Case on Linear Programming Exam 1 Closed book, closed notes Sensitivity Analysis

Tue Mar 5

12

LAB LECTURE Sensitivity Analysis

Chapter 4

Thu Mar 7 Tue Mar 12 Thu Mar 14 Tue Mar 26

13

The Simplex Method

Chapter 4

14 15 16

Introduction to Network Modeling LAB LECTURE Network Modeling

Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Chapter 5

Thu Mar 28

17

Network Modeling: Special Modeling Considerations

Chapter 5

Students should be able to develop a deeper understanding of the process of solving a linear programming problem using the simplex method. These lectures will focus exclusively on a variety of network models. By the end of these lectures students should be able to model the following types of problems: Transshipment problem Transportation problem Shortest path problem Equipment replacement problem Generalized network flow problem Maximal flow problem Minimal spanning trees

Tue Apr 2 Thu Apr 4 Tue Apr 9 Thu Apr 11

18 19

Case on Network Modeling EXAM 2: Closed book, closed notes Introduction to Queuing theory Chapters 4 &5 Chapter 13 Chapter 13 Students should be able to appreciate the basic dynamics of simple queuing models, characteristics, notation and basic terminology By the end of these two sessions students should have a stronger grasp of common queuing models with multiple servers, different arrival and service distributions be able to develop queuing models in a spreadsheet for real problems and critically assess their performance Students should be able to understand the basic characteristics of decision problems and be able to draw influence diagrams for simple decision problems Students should have an

20

21

Tue Apr 16

22

LAB LECTURE Introduction to Queuing theory

Chapter 13

Thu Apr 18 Tue Apr 23 Thu

23

Case on Queuing Theory

24

Decision Analysis

Chapter 15 Chapter

25

Decision Analysis

Apr 25

15

understanding of some of the simpler techniques for solving different types of decision problems: The payoff matrix Non-probabilistic methods Probabilistic methods Decision Trees

Tue Apr 30 Thu May 2 Tue May 7

26 27 28

Project Presentations Case on Decision Analysis

EXAM 3: Closed book, closed Chapters notes 13 and 15 Comprehensive Final Exam: Open book, open notes