HU Credits: 3

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Business Administration

Semester: 1st and/or 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: English and Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Binyamin Oz

Coordinator Email: Binyamin.Oz@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours:

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Anna Khalemsky,
Dr. Amir Brudner,
Dr. Aleksander Vainer

Course/Module description:
Solving decision problems from various areas of management.

Course/Module aims:
Learning the technique of building models for decision making, and exercising different methods for solving decision problems.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
At the end of the course students should be able to formulate a decision problem as a mathematical model (mainly linear programming models), and solve by using an appropriate software. They will be able to solve questions of project management, as well as sequential decision problems (by decision trees), the value of information, and the concept of using simulation.

Attendance requirements(%):
80%

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Weekly lectures.
A weekly assignment. (At least 80% of the assignments should be submitted. The assignment grades are not part of the final grade.)
A midterm focusing on the use of SOLVER. (A "pass" grade is required. The grade is not part of the final grade.)
Final exam. (The final exam's grade is the course grade.)

Course/Module Content:
Single-stage decision problems.
Sequential decision problems (decision trees).
The value of information.
Solving linear programs of 2 variables.
The graphical method.
Sensitivity analysis (objective function coefficients, constraints - shadow prices).
Formulation of linear programs of various types.
Binary variables.
Solution by SOLVER.
Analysis of output.
Project management (PERT), finding the critical path.
Shortening the project time in minimum cost.
Principles of simulation.

Required Reading:
Relevant chapters in "Practical Management Science"; W.L. Winston, S.C. Albright, Prentice Hall, 2005.

Additional Reading Material:
Not relevant.

Grading Scheme :
Written / Oral / Practical Exam 100 %

Additional information:
Course requirements: passing grade on 70% of homework assignments, 70% of quizzes and a passing grade in the midterm are a condition for taking a final exam. Exercises that are submitted late will not be registered.
The midterm exam using SOLVER or Lindo software in the middle of the semester.
End of semester exam 100% of the grade.