Office: Carney 371, 617-552-3758
Office hours: MWF 1–2, F 3–5
Electronic mail: gross@bc.edu
Class home page: http://fmwww.bc.edu/gross/MT235
Text: An Introduction to Management Science, by David R. Anderson, Dennis J. Sweeney, Thomas A. Williams, Jeffrey D. Camm, and R. Kipp Martin, Cengage Learning, Boston College Custom Edition.
Required software: Excel (preferably 2010/1) including Solver.
The prerequisites for this course are MT100 or the equivalent (at least one semester of single-variable calculus), and MI021 (CS021), “Computers in Management.” The co-requisite for this course is EC151, “Business Statistics.”MT235 is a required course for students in CSOM. Material from MT235 will be used in MD021 (Management and Operations).
MT235 introduces students to the modeling approach in managerial decision making. The course emphasizes building mathematical models for management decision problems, solving management problems using spreadsheet tools, and interpreting the solutions. The course builds on:
- Topics from high school algebra, including working with systems of linear equations and inequalities.
- Topics from first-semester calculus, including functions, graphing, derivatives, and optimization (max-min problems).
- Problem-solving using spreadsheets, including entering data and formulas into spreadsheets, and solving problems.
- Introductory concepts from probability theory, including the probability of an event, conditional probabilities, and expectation.
Homework Homework will be assigned and collected approximately weekly. If you submit any homework solutions longer than one page, you must use a stapler or paper clip to fasten the pages together. In particular, you cannot fold the edges of the pages over. Homework which is not properly fastened together will not receive credit.Homework is due at the start of class. Late homework will not be accepted.
You should refer to the University policies on Academic Integrity to avoid any hint of plagiarism. Any violators will be dealt with severely.
Examinations There will be three in-class examinations during the semester, and a final exam. The tentative dates for the three examinations are Friday, February 18; Friday, April 1; and Monday, May 2. The final examination is a common final, and will be given on Friday, May 13, at 4PM. Those students who cannot take the final examination at that time will have to take the make-up examination on Monday, May 16, at 4PM.
Grading The three examinations will count respectively for 16%, 18%, and 20% of your grade. The final examination counts for 30% of your grade. Homework, attendance, and class participation will account for the remaining 16%.
Miscellaneous As you prepare your solutions, I suggest that you store a copy on MyFiles, and also mail a copy to yourself every time you made any changes. Flash drives have been known to fail, and hard drives, particularly on laptops, are also less reliable than you might think.
Tentative Schedule Class HW due Topics Reading 1 Jan 19 W Introduction to modeling Ch. 1, pp. 2-19 Graphical analysis Ch. 2, pp. 29-46 2 21 F Graphical analysis (cont.) Ch. 2, pp. 47-54 3 24 M Graphical analysis (cont.) Ch. 2, pp. 55-56 4 26 W Special issues Ch. 2, pp. 57-64 5 28 F 1 Introduction to Solver Ch. 2, pp. 87-91 6 31 M Sensitivity analysis Ch. 3, pp. 93-102 7 Feb 2 W Sensitivity analysis (cont.) Ch. 3, pp. 103-109 8 4 F 2 Sensitivity analysis (cont.) Ch. 3, pp. 110-122 9 7 M Business problems Topics from Ch. 4 10 9 W Business problems (cont.) 11 11 F 3 Business problems (cont.) 12 14 M Business problems (cont.) Topics from Ch. 5 13 16 W Review for first examination 14 18 F First Examination 15 21 M Business problems (cont.) 16 23 W Network flow Topics from Ch. 6 17 25 F 4 Network flow (cont.) 18 28 M Network flow (cont.) 19 Mar 2 W Integer linear programming Topics from Ch. 7 20 4 F 5 Integer linear programming (cont.) 21 14 M Integer linear programming (cont.) 22 16 W Integer linear programming (cont.) 23 18 F 6 Calculus I review Appendix: § 1, §2.1-2.4 24 21 M EOQ Model: Calculus solution § 2.5-7 25 23 W EOQ Model: Solver solution 26 25 F 7 Partial derivatives, discriminant § 3.1-3.3 27 28 M Unconstrained optimization § 3.3-3.4 28 30 W Review for second examination 29 Apr 1 F Second examination 30 4 M Constrained optimization § 3.5-3.7 31 6 W Constrained optimization § 3.8-3.9 32 8 F 8 Decision analysis Ch. 13, pp. 601-607 33 11 M Decision analysis (cont.) Ch. 13, pp. 608-612 34 13 W Decision analysis (cont.) Ch. 13, pp. 613-618 35 15 F 9 Decision analysis (cont.) Ch. 13, pp. 619-626 36 20 W Additional problems Ch. 13, pp. 627-631 37 27 W Additional problems 38 29 F 10 Review for third examination 39 May 2 M Third examination 40 4 W Review for final 4PM May 13 F Final examination 4PM May 16 M Make-up final examination
File translated from TEX by TTH, version 3.88.
On 17 Jan 2011, 17:33.