Operations Research & Decision Analysis (MiM)

Management Science is about modeling, solving and analyzing business adminstrations and management problems using mathematial concepts. Management Science is used across different industries, departments and organizations. The lecture will treat the Management Science approach to decision making in general and the following topics in particular: Linear Programming, Mixed-Integer Programming, Graph Theory, Netwerk Flow, Dynamic Programming and Decision Theory.

After successful completion of the module students can use Operations Research methods used in Management Science in order to model business problems, to solve them to optimality and to analyze them. Students will in particular be enabled to model and solve linear programs, mixed- integer programs, dynamic programs, find shortest as well as maximum flows in networks, model and solve decision matrices and decision trees, employ utility theory to model and solve risky decisions and use scoring models in order to model and solve multi-criteria decision problems. In contrast to the module for Bachelor-students, for Master students more emphasis will be put on the acquisition of modeling knowledge.

Students mastery of the content taught in this module is checked with a 60 minutes written exam. Students are only allowed to use a non-programmable calculator. In the exam students have to answer questions, apply algorithms to solve management or business problems such as planning the optimal production mix, the optimal project portfolio or the cost minimal distribution route, create mathematical models for small example problems, and discuss presented results. By this the students demonstrate that they have understood and can apply the mathematical models and methods. The overall grade of the module is based on the result obtained in the written exam.

Knowledge in Mathematics and Statistics at the level of a successful undergraduate degree in Natural Science, Engineering or Sport Science.

The module consists of a weekly lecture, a weekly exercise course as well as a biweekly tutorial which is voluntary. In the lecture the content is introduced to the student. The exercise repeats and deepens the contents. In the tutorial students are solving exercises by themselves and in groups guided by a student teaching assistant. Groups are of no more than 20 students. The student teaching assistants will repeat concepts from the lecture and the exercise and they help students in undertaking the exercises.