Right click and "Save Target As" to download the Course Notes in a pdf file. Can be opened and printed with Acrobat Reader. Pages 13 through 34 are handed out the first day of class, so you do not need to print those pages. (Those are page numbers within Acrobat. The page numbers of the document are slightly different because of a Cover page that is not numbered. That is, you will see on the first night's handouts, the page numbers from 11 to 32, but those are pages 13 through 34 of the .pdf file.)
This course is designed to introduce the MBA student to the scientific and the quantitative component of the managerial process. An effective manager needs many kinds of skills, from the ability to communicate clearly, to the ability to motivate and regulate human behavior, to the ability to analyze, problem solve and make decisions. The day to day success of a manager depends on her ability to combine emotion with reason, the qualitative with the quantitative, the subjective with the objective, the "right answer" with the ability to motivate those who must carry it out.
QM 270 seeks, in particular, to develop the analytical side of the manager. Thus, the course involves logical reasoning, critical thinking, and applied mathematics. The development of clear thinking skills is more important than the memorization of the steps of one particular technique, yet it will be necessary to learn techniques as an exercise of those thinking skills.
The course revolves around an analysis paradigm, that is, a way of analyzing business problems. This paradigm involves two major processes. First is the process of formulating a system model to explain the behavior of a business system. Second is the process of studying the model to gain information on which to base a course of action.
Formulating a system model begins with determining the performance measures for the system, the decision variables, the environmental factors, and the side effect factors. Relationships between these factors must be determined, and the values of the environmental variables must be found. Possible courses of action must be identified.
The analysis of the model can be with a view toward anticipating the results of proposed changes, finding an optimal solution, finding which factors are the most significant, or creatively developing possible courses of action.
Examples of management science models and methods will be considered to show how this process of modeling and analysis works to improve the performance of business operations. This course will also develop the use of computer spreadsheets as a tool for model formulation and analysis.
The course is designed to be practical in that the student with an active mind is encouraged to see opportunities to apply the course material to real life situations he confronts. In other words, this course could be contrasted with a course in a mathematics department that teaches many of the same techniques for the mere purpose of understanding their mathematical properties. QM 270 is not concerned with proving that a given technique truly gives an optimal solution, but rather focuses on how that technique could be used in the world of business. It is, however, a highly practical necessity to understand just enough of the theory involved in the models to realize under what conditions they can be correctly applied, lest managers find themselves plugging numbers into black boxes and getting the "right" solution for the wrong problem.
The course grade will be determined from student performance on two examinations and numerous homework assignments turned in throughout the session. The examinations will be worth 100 points each. There will be homework assignments and application exercises totaling 140 points. The total points possible in the class is thus 340. The grade will be computed by taking the points earned by the student and dividing by the points possible. The letter grade assigned the student is derived from the percentage scale:
90% and above = A
80% to <90% = B
70% to <80% = C
60% to <70% = D
below 60% = F
No "extra credit" opportunities exist, except in rare cases when they are given to the entire class.
The instructor reserves the right to adjust the percentage cutoffs slightly when clumping of scores merits it.
Suggestions for Homework and Exams
1. Round off the final answer on a problem to an intelligent number of digits. Avoid rounding intermediate results as large rounding errors may occur.
2. Bold, highlight or circle your final answer.
3. Include the units of the final answer (minutes, dollars, people, etc.)
4. State assumptions when the question seems to allow some freedom in such. On true/false questions that seem ambiguous, note what you assumed the ambiguous phrase to mean. I try hard to write questions with clear meaning, but nonetheless, sometimes there will be one that can be interpreted more than one way.
It is expected that all homework will be turned in at the beginning of the period for which it is assigned. When this does not happen, the following late work policy applies:
1. If student does not attend the class period when the assignment is due.
Send the assignment to instructor (or drop it off if on campus). If received within two days of class time, no late penalty is assigned. If possible, call beforehand to notify instructor of anticipated absence. If received after two days and up to one week after class time, a late penalty of 15% will be accessed. After one week the penalty increases by 20% per week until all possible credit is gone.
2. If student attends but is unable to hand in the work.
Since it is likely that an assigned problem will be covered in class on the night it is due, someone who attends class and hands in the assignment afterwards has an unfair advantage over the other students in the class. To compensate for this, two options are given for late work in this case:
a. turn in the original assignment sometime in the next week with a penalty of 50%. (Maximum score is half of original worth of assignment.)
b. ask instructor for an alternate set of problems to work. Up to the next class period, these will be accessed a late penalty of 15%, with 20% per week deducted after that.
3. For some other more complicated situation.
If you have more involved circumstances, such as necessity to miss more than one class period in a row, unable to obtain course text, etc., please work out a strategy with the course instructor.
From time to time, exams and quizzes will be given in class. If you know you will miss a scheduled exam time, or you miss class the night a quiz is given, make arrangements with the instructor to take a make up exam or quiz which will be comparable to the one given in class. It is much preferred to contact the instructor before the absence.
The majority of the assignments given in this class are individual assignments, meaning that each individual is to turn in his or her own work. Working together with others on homework assignments is not discouraged except to the degree to which it inhibits individual learning. There are some types of personalities that learn better by discussing and interacting on material with others. It is never acceptable, however, for one student to do the assignment and the other to effectively copy the results and turn them in as his or her personal work.
The CBPA’s Academic Integrity Policy is posted at http://www.cbpa.drake.edu/aspx/Resources/default.aspx. The consequences of violating this policy vary given the severity of the dishonesty. A violation can result in a grade of zero on the test or assignment, an “F” for the course grade, or even expulsion from the university. Make sure you read the policy and ask for clarification of any part that is unclear to you.
I believe that one learns quantitative skills by practice, thus homework will be required almost every class period. The homework assignments and the exam questions will be based on the material covered in class and in the text, but will not be simply template problems, exactly like the samples in class. In most cases the problems will involve a bit of critical thinking and reasoning skills to determine exactly what it is that is being sought and how the models discussed in class can be applied. My desire is to make the class challenging enough that students can feel proud to have earned a good grade, and that the employers who are paying the bill for many of the MBA students can feel good about the use of their money. At the same time, I try to be reasonable with respect to the background abilities and the time constraints of Drake MBA students.
A widely accepted rule of thumb for college course work (,actually this is a rule of thumb for undergraduate course work, graduate course work would probably require more outside time,) is that for every hour spent in class, the average student should spend three hours outside of class. I suspect that the average student in this class will spend less time than this outside of class in a typical week. During weeks when there are computer assignments, or an examination to study for, it would be possible to spend more time than this. Also, those students who find their basic mathematics and algebra skills quite rusty will spend more time on this class than others.
Examinations in this class contain problems covering most every significant topic from the class material. Many of the questions will seem similar to ones worked in class and one or two or perhaps three questions will have a significantly different twist. Most often the twist requires reasoning skills to discover how to use the models in class for its solution. I consider the exams to be not only an assessment of what has been learned, but also a learning experience in themselves. The exams will be returned and discussed, except for the last exam since there are no class meetings left after the exam.
Although the exams are challenging, it is rare for the average exam grade to not be in the 80s(percentage wise). My approach to grading is to count off for concepts missed or careless mistakes made, but to give partial credit for those concepts that are shown to be understood. The bulk of the test will be problems, but there will often be true/false, multiple choice, and short answer questions included to test understanding of concepts and terminology. The exams are closed book, closed notes, and closed neighbor, but I do allow students to bring in one page (both sides) of summarized notes and formulas. The process of condensing the material to one or two pages is in itself an educational process and serves as an excellent review. It will also be necessary to bring a calculator to the exams.
Special Needs
Drake University strives to provide equal access to educational opportunities to all peoples regardless of sex, race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, age, or disability. Those students with visible or non-visible handicaps are encouraged to contact me as soon as possible to discuss special accommodations related to this class.
Rules Of Etiquette For Spreadsheet Models
1. All causal values should be contained in visible cells on the spreadsheet. Whether decision variable or environmental variable values, it is best to have these numbers shown in a cell rather than buried in a formula that someone looking at the spreadsheet printout could not see. If the number is used in a formula (as all cause values should be), use the cell reference to that number rather than using the value of the number itself.
Don't do it this way:
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Profit =
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$420 |
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Do it this way:
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Price =
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$21 |
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Units sold =
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20 |
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Profit =
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$420 |
(Or name cell B2 "price" and cell B3 "units" and use the formula: +price*units)
2. Display a reasonable number of significant digits for values computed through formulae. If the number conceptually must be an integer, don't display digits behind the decimal point. If all the inputs have two digits of precision, don't have a result with 39 digits of precision.
3. Label all values so it is clear to a reader what each value represents.
4. Include your name and the date on your spreadsheet.