Operations Research: an Active Learning Approach

Operations Research: an Active Learning Approach ranks last in the list of best online operations research courses. Operations management is required in all sectors of society because it deals with operational planning and control issues. One of the challenges for operations managers is determining how to best use available resources to achieve a specific goal. Many of these problems necessitate the use of quantitative approaches. OR is concerned with the formulation of problems and the application of analytical methods to aid in the decision-making of operational problems in planning and control. OR techniques are useful quantitative tools for assisting operations managers, and they have a wide range of applications in engineering, manufacturing, construction, finance, and a variety of service sectors.

Operations Research is a branch of applied mathematics that is taught in many engineering and management programs. This course is intended for both students learning OR and practitioners in their respective professions. The mathematical procedures for the OR techniques are introduced in detail in the course examples. This assists learners in mastering the methodology and techniques and applying them to their goals through active learning.

This course introduces two popular OR techniques as well as their related topics. The Simplex Method for Linear Programming (LP) is regarded as one of the top ten algorithms of the twentieth century. LP is an optimization technique used to solve problems such as determining the best product mix, production schedule, and shipment allocation in order to maximize profit or minimize costs. The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a popular technique for scheduling project activities used by project managers. Some advanced CPM topics are also introduced to deal with specific project management situations.

At a glance

• Institution: HKPolyUx
• Subject: Business & Management
• Level: Intermediate
• Prerequisites:
  • Knowledge of mathematics at high school level
  • Knowledge of probability distributions and statistics, and preferably basic calculus, for learning Simulation
• Language: English
• Video Transcript: English

What you'll learn

• Understand and apply the methodology of Operations Research to investigate and tackle your operational problems;
• Formulate and apply the techniques of Linear Programming and the extended topics to solve certain optimization problems;
• Apply the techniques of Critical Path Method and PERT in project management;
• Appreciate the use of simulation in studying the behaviour of stochastic operations systems;
• Understand the limitations of these techniques.

Rating: 4.4/5.0

Enroll here: edx.org/course/operations-research-an-active-approach