Operational Research

Code:

EM405

Acronym:

IO

Instance: 2003/2004 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Industrial Management and Engineering Section
Course/CS Responsible:	Mechanical Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LEM	110	Plano de Estudos EM Oficial a partir de 2000	3	3	5	-
		Plano para Bachareis EM a partir 2000	1	3	5	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The main objective of this course is to transmit to the students a global vision of OR, stressing, in particular, its role as a method of approach to decision processes. Besides the methodological aspects, the students are invited to formulate and solve linear programming and project management problems, including the discussion of algorithms and computational behaviour.

Program

OR Methodology: Brief historical note. Ackoff's systemic vision on organizations and decision processes. Classification of decision processes according to Anthony (strategic planning, management control and operational
control). Decision levels and characterization of organizations’ subsystems. The role of the quantitative approach: from the analytical-scientific-quantitative paradigm to the decision support perspective. Phases of the OR method. Structuring the decision process: general difficulties and factors of additional complexity (multicriteria
problems, uncertainty, risk, sequential decisions). Construction of a decision support system (DSS): global design; development and test of the users' interface; database design, development, test and incorporation in
the DSS; modelbase design, development, test and incorporation in the DSS; implementation.
OR Techniques: Linear programming (problem formulation, solving the problem by the simplex method, sensitivity analysis; formulation and solving methods for the transport and assignment problems). Project management (general organizational aspects, techniques for the planning and control of time, cost and other resources - CPM and PERT methods).

Main Bibliography

Texts and slides written by the lecturers

Complementary Bibliography

Hillier, F. S. and G. J. Lieberman (2001), 'Introduction to Operations Research', McGraw-Hill International Editions, Business Quantitative Series, Singapura

Teaching methods and learning activities

In the context of this discipline, we combine classes based on the presentation of methods and techniques by the lecturers (including the discussion of real cases), classes consisting in the presentation and discussion of case studies by the students and problem solving classes (some of them with the help of computers).

Software

Excel Lindo QSB - Quantitative Systems for Business

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Eligibility for exams

The students must attain to, at least, 75% of the classes

Calculation formula of final grade

Case study - 20%
Mini-tests - 80% (40% each)

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Final exam