BUAD 555 - Decision Science and Statistics for Managers

 
This course introduces the concepts of model building, statistical analysis and its role in rational decision-making. Students will acquire knowledge of specific modeling techniques such as decision analysis, linear programming, statistical analysis and simulation, along with some insight into their practical application. In addition, the student is encouraged to take an analytic view of decision-making by formalizing trade-offs, specifying constraints, providing for uncertainty and performing sensitivity analyses. Students will learn both the limitations and potential of statistics, and how to interpret results. Topics include coefficient evaluation and interpretation, confidence intervals for means and proportions, continuous distributions (especially the normal), descriptive statistics (central tendency, covariance, dispersion, skewness) and regression analysis (indicator variables, model building and evaluation, multicollinearity, omitted variables bias and prediction intervals). Application areas include finance (for example, portfolio construction), marketing (for example, promotion and advertising response) and operations (such as quality control).