Decision Modeling

1.5 Credits · Level: Graduate

Managerial decisions in complex environments can be analyzed using quantitative models. This course introduces students to spreadsheet modeling, simulation and optimization. Simulation models are helpful when making decisions under uncertainty and optimization models deal with many decision variables that interact with each other through constraints. The applications areas are diverse: airlines maximize their revenues by changing prices under demand uncertainty, hospitals improve quality of care by changing staffing levels, manufacturers minimize costs by reorganizing their supply chains to meet consumer demand. Students build models that generate insights for operations management problems and practice their skills in communicating such insights.