INFM 718A / LBSC 705 Information for Decision Making

INFM 718A / LBSC 705 Seminar in Information for Decision-Making
Fall 2007 - Tentative Syllabus [1]

Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
E-mail:
Office Hours:

Vedat G. Diker
Hornbake 4121E
(301) 405 9814
v d i k e r@umd.edu
4:00-5:00 PM Tuesday

Updates to this syllabus.

Class meeting time and place:

Wednesday evenings 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in Hornbake 2119 (Wireless Lab)

Course space on ELMS (BlackBoard) (Requires login with UMD ID and password):

https://elms.umd.edu/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_14103_1

Discussion board on ELMS (BlackBoard) (Requires login with UMD ID and password):

https://elms.umd.edu/webapps/discussionboard/do/conference?action=list_forums&course_id=_14103_1&nav=discussion_board

Catalog Description:

The use of information in organizational and individual decision-making. Manager's behavior in using information, differences between the private and public sectors, and the roles of information professionals and information systems in decision-making.

Extended Description:

Many decision problems encountered in professional life can be modeled and solved by using a range of decision-making and problem-solving methods. There are different ways to group decision-making and problem-solving methods: hard vs. soft, single-criterion vs. multi-criteria, individual vs. group, deterministic vs. probabilistic. This course will introduce basic concepts in decision theory, and a variety of methods that can be used in individual and organizational decision-making and problem-solving.

Goals: After completing this course the student will be able to:

- Understand basic concepts in decision theory,

- Understand basic steps of the decision process.

- Identify decision problems that can be addressed by a range of methods,

- Build simple models for representing a range of decision problems,

- Apply decision-making and problem-solving methods for a range of decision problems, and models.

Elements of the Course:

In-Class Exercises: The course will involve individual and group exercises that will be carried out in class. Please inform the instructor in advance if you will not be able to participate in a class meeting.

Assignments: Student will be given a take-home assignment each week. In most cases, the assignments will extend or build upon the in-class exercises. Students are expected to work individually on the assignments. Timely submission of the completed assignments is essential. Students should refer to the course website for the due date of each assignment. If an assignment due date is a holiday for you, please let the instructor know at least one week in advance, so an alternate due date can be set for you.

Grading:

In-Class Exercises, and Participation 30%

Assignments (On Time)[2] 70%

Required Text:

The Science of Decision Making: A Problem-based Approach Using Excel [SC] (Eric V. Denardo)
Wiley - ISBN: 0471318272

Recommended Text:

The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making [PS] (Scott Plous)
McGraw-Hill - ISBN: 0070504776

Other Relevant Texts:

The Art of Modeling with Spreadsheets (Stephen G. Powell and Kenneth R. Baker)
Wiley - ISBN: 0471209376

Thinking and Deciding (3^rd Edition) (Jonathan Baron)
Cambridge University Press - ISBN: 0521659728

In-class Example Spreadsheets:

To come

Visual Guides:

Using Goal Seek and the Table command in MS Excel

Topics:

	Date	Topics (Click links for slides)	Readings	Work Due (Assignments)
1	August 29	Introduction; Math refresher; Decision-making concepts [.ppt] [.pdf]	---	---
2	September 05	Modeling for decision making [.ppt] [.pdf] In-class Exercises 1	[SC] pp. 18-22
3	September 12	Linear programming; Geometrical and algorithmic solutions for LP models [.ppt] [.pdf] Linear Programming Problem example Minimization LP Problem example In-class Exercises 2	[SC] pp. 31-36; pp. 72-80	Assignment 1
4	September 19	Excel solution of LP problems [.ppt] [.pdf]	[SC] pp. 50-64;
5	September 26	Networks [.ppt] [.pdf] In-class Exercises 3	[SC] pp. 107-131; pp. 150-189	Assignment 2
6	October 03	Shortest Path Problems; Probability [.ppt] [.pdf] In-class Exercises 4	[SC] pp. 150-189; pp. 217-227
7	October 10	Conditional probabilities [.ppt] [.pdf] In-class Exercises 5	[SC] pp. 227-237 pp. 283-297
8	October 17	Decision trees [.ppt] [.pdf]	[SC] pp. 283-297	Assignment 3
9	October 24	Markov chains[.ppt] [.pdf] In-class Exercises 6	[SC] pp. 442-456 (you can omit 'starred' sections)	Assignment 4
10	October 31	Multi-attribute utility models [.ppt] [.pdf] In-class Exercises 7	---
11	November 07	Decision-making for negotiations [.ppt] [.pdf] In-class Exercises 8	---	Assignment 5
12	November 14	Field Trip - Idea Mapping (directions)	---	Assignment 6
13	November 21	Resource allocation models [.ppt] [.pdf]	[PS] Section I, Section II
14	November 28	CLASS CANCELLED		Assignment 7
15	December 05	Effects of perception, memory and context; Framing; Heuristics and biases in decision-making; Social influences, Traps in decision-making; Course wrap-up [.ppt] [.pdf]	[PS] Sections I, II, III, IV, V, VI

Last updated on December 05, 2007 by VGD

[1] This syllabus is subject to change. Please check http://www.wam.umd.edu/~vdiker/INFM718A_LBSC705_06_09/ frequently for updates.

[2] If an assignment or project due date is a holiday for you, please let the instructor know at least one week in advance, so an alternate due date can be set.