Basic Decision Analytics

This program is designed to introduce learners to various analytical tools for operational analysis and decision-making. Throughout the program, learners will learn the basic analytical tools used in practical decision-making based on spreadsheet modelling.

Course Summary

This three-day course addresses well-structured Decision Analytics problems using spreadsheets. The course addresses the concepts of analytics and introduces few basic decision analytics tools such as linear program and integer program for practical decision making. Examples of a wide variety of problems that can be solved using an Add-in to EXCEL (Solver), will be covered. Problems involving product mix, capital budgeting, transportation, assignment and networks to name a few will be presented. Sensitivity analysis will also be discussed in detail.

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Course Content

Decision analytics refers to a systematic, quantitative, iterative and interactive approach to addressing and evaluating important decision choices confronted by organisations in the private and public sector. This short course on ‘Spreadsheet based Decision Analytics’ is designed to provide basic understanding of the principles and practices of decision analytics, to introduce several decision-making tools for analysing complex decision problem environments, and for making appropriate decisions within that environment, and to strengthen the individual’s decision-making skills.

The decision-making tools, that would be covered in this short course, are suitable for tactical and operational level decision problems. Typical examples of such problems include project selection, budget allocation, resource allocation and planning, transportation planning, and rostering and scheduling. The course includes hands-on training with spreadsheet-based tools for decision making.

This course covers Module 1 of the five days course of ‘Advanced Decision Analytics’.

• Planning and resource allocation and transportation and supply using linear programming
• Rostering and scheduling using integer programming
• Trend analysis and forecasting using regression tool
• Project evaluation using linear programming
• Waiting line analysis using Excel based tool
• Spreadsheet modelling for the above approaches

Learning Outcomes

By completing this course, learners will be able to:

• identify decision analytics problems in real life.
• define the problems for modelling.
• examine the modelling tools to model the defined problems.
• apply the right solution approaches to solve the model.
• analyse the solutions of the model; and
• interpret the applicability of solutions.

Who should attend

Ideal for: Anyone requiring improvement in their leadership skills, including, but not exclusive to:

• Anyone interested to learn basic decision analytics tools and to solve complex and continually changing decision problems in public or private sector organisations or communities.

Prerequisite: There is no prerequisite for this course

Instructors

Prof. Ruhul A Sarker obtained his Ph.D. in Operations Research from Dalhousie University (former TUNS), Halifax, Canada in 1992. He is currently a Professor in the School of Engineering and IT. He was the first co-ordinator of the Master of Decision Analytics program in the school. He served as the Director of Faculty Postgraduate Research at UNSW Canberra from 2015 to 2020 and also as the Deputy Head of School (Research) from 2011 to 2014. Prof. Sarker’s broad teaching and research interests include decision analytics, computational intelligence, operations research, and applied optimization. He is the lead author of the book Optimization Modelling: A Practical Approach, Taylor & Francis /CRC Press, Boca Raton. Prof. Sarker has successfully obtained more than $4 million external research grants. He was a member of the national executive committee of the Australian Society for Operations Research (ASOR) and Editor-in-chief of ASOR Bulletin from 2000 to 2011. As recognition of Prof. Sarker’s contributions to ASOR and Operations Research, ASOR awarded him an ASOR Medal (2011) and Special Service Certificate (2009). Currently, he is an associate editor of three international journals.