STU11004 – Introduction to Management Science

Module CodeSTU11004
Module NameIntroduction to Management Science
ECTS Weighting[1]10 ECTS
Semester taughtSemester 1 & 2
Module Coordinator/s  Diana Wilson (S1), John McDonagh (S2)

Module Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this Module, students will be able to:

  • LO1: Research and investigate major schools of thought in Management Science
  • LO2: Analyse and evaluate critically the work of leading Management Science theorists
  • LO3: Recognize and understand the role of various problem-solving models
  • LO4: Recognize and understand the role of various decision-making models
  • LO5: Understand the ethical implications of LO3 and LO4
  • LO6: Present and critique the work of leading theories/theorists
  • LO7: Apply Management Science solutions to a modern organization
  • LO8: Describe the fundamental components of Systems Thinking

Semester 2

  • L09: Explain why the value of money decreases as a function of how far in the future it will be available.
  • L10: Compute: the simple and compound interest of any amount of money, the value of an annuity and the payment of an amortised loan.
  • L11: Identify and solve problems using dynamic programming.
  • L12: Compute the shortest spanning tree of a network and the shortest path between two points in a network.
  • L13: Derive the maximal flow through a network.
  • L14: Compute the optimal inventory policy for the classic formulation, and also with constant receipt and shortages.
  • L15: Explain risk averse and risk prone behaviour, give examples of each and demonstrate that decreasing marginal worth leads to risk averse behaviour.
  • L16: Calculate properties of a queueing system from information about number of servers, arrival rates and service rates.

Module Content

This module covers a range of subjects in management science at an introductory level. The objectives of the module are to give students an overview of the subject, to teach important basic techniques and introduce systematic thinking about problems. The first semester starts with an introduction to the major schools of Management Science and their components. The second semester introduces the value of money, the theory of queues, and develops ideas in the time value of money, classic network problems, inventory control, and basic transportation & allocation algorithms. The module will combine lectures and demonstrations of mathematical solutions to management science problems.

Teaching and learning Methods

Semester 1 will be delivered by in-person lectures and tutorials

This course will be delivered by both pre-recorded lectures/videos and live online lectures/videos.

Assessment Details

Assessment ComponentBrief DescriptionLearning Outcomes Addressed% of totalWeek setWeek due
Group AssignmentFirst Semester25%n/an/a
Individual AssignmentFirst Semester25%TBDTBD
ExaminationIn-person Exam (2hrs)Second Semester35%n/an/a
CourseworkAssignmentsSecond Semester15%TBDTBD

Reassessment Details

Reassessment is in-person exam (weighting 50%) and coursework (weighting 50%). 

Contact Hours and Indicative Student Workload

Contact Hours (scheduled hours per student over full module), broken down by:66 hours
 Lecture66 hours
 Laboratory0 hours
 tutorial or seminar0 hours
 Other0 hours
Independent study (outside scheduled contact hours), broken down by:144 hours
 preparation for classes and review of material
(including preparation for examination, if applicable)
132 hours
 completion of assessments (including examination, if applicable)12  hours
Total Hours210 hours

Recommended Reading List

An Introduction to Management Science by David R. Anderson, Dennis J. Sweeney, Thomas A. Williams, Jeffrey D. Camm and R. Kipp Martin. Cengage South-Western. 2011.

Introduction to Management Science (10th Edition) by Bernard W. Taylor. Prentice Hall. 2012.

Module Pre-requisites

Prerequisite modules:

Other/alternative non-module prerequisites:

Module Co-requisites

None

Module Website

Blackboard