Analytical Techniques
Singapore International Executive MBA
Rutgers University
July/August 2020
Professor Jonathan Eckstein
Last update time:
Friday, August 07, 2020 19:56:02 -0400
General Information and Links
Class 1 (Saturday, July 25) -- Introduction; Linear Optimization Models
- Blue Ridge Problem
- Make-or-buy
- Work-yourself problems: Weed Wackers and Valu-Com
- Solutions are on BlackBoard (under "Course
Documents", then "Problem solutions")
Class 2 (Sunday, July 26) -- More Linear Optimization Models
Class 3 (Tuesday, July 28) -- Finish Linear Optimization Models, Start
Integer Optimization Models
- Review work-yourself problems from previous class
- Introduction to integer programming: employee scheduling model
- Binary variables: capital budgeting model
- Work-yourself problems: video game development and apartment
building layout problems
- Solutions are on BlackBoard (under
"Course Documents", then "Problem solutions")
Class 4 (Thursday, July 30) -- More Topics in Integer Optimization
- Review assigned problems from previous class
- An assignment problem (coursepack p. 25):
assignment spreadsheet
model
- Milkem spreadsheet model
(coursepack p. 28)
- Reactors work-yourself problem (coursepack p. 31)
- The solution is on
BlackBoard (under
"Course Documents", then "Problem solutions")
- Remington fixed charge problem
Class 5 (Saturday, August 1) -- Various Topics related to Optimization
Modeling, Start Decisions under Uncertainty
- Review reactors work-yourself problem
- Removing snow in Montreal (Case 6.4)
- Model case presentation
- Demonsration of some "pro" tools
- Discussion/lecture: decision support systems, information
technology, and the various levels of business analytics
- Discussion/lecture: constraint logic programming
- Time permitting: the dangers of allocated costs, part 1:
allocated cost spreadsheet example
- Nonlinear models
- Multiple objective
example: Blackstone Mining
- Introduction to uncertain decision making and expected monetary value: hotel site spreadsheet
Class 6 (Sunday, August 2) -- First Project Presentations, Decision Trees,
and Related Topics
- First project presentations
- Introduction to decision trees -- Valu-Com
- Multilevel decision trees and conditional probablity -- Colonial Motors
- EVSI and EVPI
- When is EMV the right decision criterion?
Class 7 (Tuesday, August 4) -- Bayes' Theorem and Decision Trees, Start
Monte Carlo Simulation
- The Eagle Credit Union problem (problem 14.26, page 820 of the textbook) is
analyzed on pages 65-67 of the coursepack
-
Download the YASAI add-in (just save and do not open directly;
then follow installation directions in the
YASAI User Guide)
- Our first simulation example: the classic newspaper stocking problem
-
Piedmont Airlines example
- Binomial random variables are described on page 74 of the coursepack
Class 8 (Thursday, August 6) -- Multi-Period Simulation, Binomial and Poisson Random
Variables
Class 9 (Saturday, August 8) -- More Simulation, Including Continuous Random
Variables
- Continuous distributions in simulation
- Another multi-period simulation --
belt replacement scheduling
- Breakout problem: gene sequencer repair
- Solution will be on Blackboard
- Reading assignment for Sunday -- North Star case in the back of the
coursepack
Class 10 (Sunday, August 9)
- North Star case solution, by both decision tree and simulation (Excel
file on BlackBoard)
- Models illustrating some basic queuing theory
- Discrete-event simulation demonstration
- Presentation final preparation interval
- Second project presentations (and feedback, time permitting)