Department: Management and Marketing

BUSI44315: APPROACHES TO DECISION MAKING (PT/EXECUTIVE)

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide an advanced understanding of the ways in which decision making frameworks may help in making sense of the complex world in which managers manage.

Content

• Optimisation: using linear programming to find best solutions.
• Multi-attribute problems: how to trade off different sorts of outcomes.
• Risky decisions: how to cope with uncertainty.
• Subjectivity and bias: why we need help in making rational decisions.
• Competition and cooperation: the application of game theory.
• Problem structuring: describing complexity using soft systems and pattern languages.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the module, the students will:
• have an in-depth understanding of the contribution that analytical decision methods (mainly, but not only, quantitative) can make to the solution of decision problems in business;
• have a critical appreciation of how to structure complex problems.

• Upon successful completion of the module, the students will:
• be able to formulate and solve models to assist management decision making.

• Written communication; planning, organising and time management; problem solving and analysis; using initiative; computer literacy.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Learning outcomes will be met through a combination of lectures, groupwork, case studies and discussion, supported by guided reading. The written assignment will test students' understanding of relevant concepts and their ability to apply and interpret what they have learned to the analysis of a particular issue in depth.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University