Mathematical Analysis for Managers

Mathematical Analysis for Managers

Provides the mathematical skills and applications necessary to pursue graduate study in the College of Management. Topics include a review of basic algebra; graphing; linear, polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions; functions of several variables; systems of linear equations; probability; differentiation and integration.

Course Objectives
The course is designed for manager-users of management science/operations research (MS/OR) rather than the technical specialist. Therefore, the emphasis throughout the course will be model formulation, solution methods, and managerial interpretation of the results, rather than on the mathematical algorithms.

At one extreme, managers may be users of large-scale MS/OR studies. Operating in this role, they must have the following

skills:

1. The ability to recognize situations in which MS/OR might be used effectively.
2. The ability to conduct two-way communication with a technical specialist; that is, they must be able to:
a. explain the nature of the problems to specialists in a meaningful way, and
b. understand the specialist’s product sufficiently well to verify its appropriateness and potential
usefulness.
3. The ability to understand the results of MS/OR studies so that they can obtain full value from the information available from such studies.

At the other extreme, we have individuals who work in small businesses, where the size of the operations would make it unlikely that a formal MS/OR analysis would be justified. For these individuals, we can provide a way of thinking and organizing information that should aid their “intuitive” decisions.

Somewhere between these two extremes are individuals who occasionally encounter relatively small straightforward problems that can analyzed using MS/OR techniques. Examples include simple inventory analysis, incorporating uncertainty into demand forecasts, and evaluating the cost/benefit of a market survey or some other information gathering activity. We would expect these users to be able formulate these models appropriate for analyzing these problems, utilize personal computers and commercial software to obtain solutions, and evaluate the results.

Instructional Methods

The materials for the course are a combination of text readings together with accompanying problems and short cases, actual case studies involving applications of MS/OR, and applications readings from the literature. In class, there will be some
lectures, a lot of discussion for clarification, and case discussions. Study groups should be used for effective preparation for all sessions, but particularly for case preparation.

The Grading Process

There are six written assignments and a final examination. The five case reports should be analyzed with the help of study groups, but the reports themselves should be individually prepared. Reports will be graded for the quality and depth of analysis and the overall effectiveness. Dr. Dyer will grade the individual applications of decision analysis due to the potentially sensitive data these analyses may contain. The five cases may be graded by the TA. While Dr. Dyer is always available for help and discussion, to maintain consistency, the TA should be your primary contact regarding questions concerning these five cases.

Details regarding specific assignments will be announced in class. However, as an example, the following grading scheme was used on an assignment for a previous year: This scheme will be modified for specific assignments, but it provides a check-list that may be useful for the initial assignments.
All assignments should be turned in as “hard copy” on the day that they are due. Any late assignments will be penalized a “half letter” (eg, from A- to B+) if they are turned in prior to the next class, and a whole letter if they are turned in later than that. All assignments muct be completed in order to receive course credit. Submission of assignments by email is discouraged, but, if necessary, the assignment should be submitted as a single Word file. No separate files containing spreadsheets will be considered. In addition to the written assignments, students will be expected to prepare all other cases assigned for class. This means that the cases should be analyzed at the same level of depth as the written assignments. These cases will be discussed in class, and participation in these discussions will also be a consideration in the determination of the final grades. Final grades will depend on report and the examination grades as follows:

Five case reports 50%
Individual application 25%
Examination 25%