TECHNIQUES FOR MANAGERIAL DECISIONS

This course belongs to the fundamental teaching activities for the curriculum in International Management of the Master Degree in Management. The goal of the course is to provide students with the main concepts related to Business Information Systems (MRP, ERP, CRP), Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and the importance of using decision support systems in the company. It introduces in particular the study of systems dynamics by referring to Petri nets and deeps the concept of time planning of activities (PERT). The course also aims to provide skills and expertise on the use of analytic models and adequate data to support decisions and on their interpretation with the final goal of proposing appropriate solutions to the managerial challenges under study.

Knowledge and understanding skills
Throught the attendace of classes, the activities proposed through the Moodle platform, as well as through the individual study the student will acquire the following knowledge and understanding skills:
learn analytical and conceptual tools needed to examine and solve decision problems typical of companies engaged in internationalization;
learn and understand the main techniques useful for translate a complex decision problem into models that can be solved analytically;
learn how to hierarchize a complex problem into simpler instances that are appropriately integrated with each other;
acquire familiarity with some basic techniques to support managerial decisions such as the representation and management of distributed systems and complex projects and their risks.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding.
Through the individual study, by reading the materials suggested by the instructor, through the discussion of business cases, the interaction with external experts, the execution of software experiments, the development of homework based on practical examples, students will have acquired the following skills to apply their knowledge:
be able to use the main techniques to support business decisions, based on analytical and conceptual tools, useful for examining and solving management problems;
be able to use spreadsheets to visualize, analyze and solve practical cases of complex decisions, with emphasis on the international operations;
be able to interpret the data and results provided by mathematical-statistical techniques and dedicated software with respect to complex decision-making problems;
be able to represent in an analytical and tractable way distributed systems;
be able to quantify the durations and risks related to the development and management of complex projects in all business divisions.

Making judgements, communication, lifelong learning skills.
Thanks to the discussion of business cases and interaction with peers, instructors and external experts, the student will learn:
how to formulate rational justifications to support their own judgments;
how to understand the relative strengths and limits of their judgement on the basis of hypotheses, data and models;
how to formulate and communicate adequately their analysis and their economic-financial interpretation of company facts, also through the use of software.

This course emphasizes applications over theory. Some (few) basic knowledge in Mathematics are appreciated. Familiarity with the software Excel is welcome. For a reference course in mathematics (at the bachelor level) see http://www.unive.it/data/course/257915/programma

The main topics addressed during the course are the following:
- Business information systems and Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
- Integrated planning systems: MRP, ERP, and CRP
- Distributed Systems dynamics. Petri nets
- Large projects: Critical Path Analysis, Pert and other tools for Project Management

Portougal, V. & Sundaram, D. (2006). Business Processes: Operational Solutions for SAP Implementation. IGI Global.
Van Der Aalst, W., Van Hee, K. M., & van Hee, K. (2004). Workflow management: models, methods, and systems. MIT press.
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2018). Management information systems: managing the digital firm. Pearson.

Other teaching material will be made available for download.

The evaluation is based on a written exam and on one ongoing mandatory assignment.

Assignment (10%): Students will be proposed one situation in which some of the methodologies seen in class have to be implemented in order to take a "good" decision. The candidate is expected to be able to recognize, organize and process the significant data at hand in order to obtain meaningful output to be used to solve the proposed problem. The solution of the proposed activity has to be uploaded through the Moodle platform and will be evaluated by the instructor. To access the mandatory assignment, the student will be asked to answer to some multiple choice quizzes which aim to verify the student's preparation on the basic concepts.

Written exam (90%): Students will be proposed one theoretical question and two more practical questions to be solved using the techniques analyzed in class. Mockups exams will be made available to students to prepare for the exam.

The exam is evaluated on a 30 points basis. 18 points is the minimum level to receive the 6 credits for the course. 3 out of 30 points pertain to the assignment. The remaining 27 points pertain to the written exam.

The course consists in 15 classes; the activity in class is both theoretical and practical: active participation is highly recommended. Experiments in Excel will be proposed during classes to master the material and provide insights for decision making and problem solving. The course is accompanied by an online platform offered on Moodle, where the instructor will propose activities and exercises to be solve during the course.

English

International students.
The participation of international students is warmly encouraged. Bachelor-level international students should be aware that the techniques used in class, the teaching methodologies and the examination procedures are designed for a master-level course.

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion.
Concerning Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments, Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

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