OLPUndergraduate courses
Optimization — Linear Programming
Mathematical models for managerial decisions — formulate a linear programming model, solve it in a spreadsheet, and read what the solution is telling you.
- Introductory
- 4 weeks
- Approx. 15 hours per week
- 3 semester hours
About this course
The essence of management is to make choices that make optimal use of scarce resources. This course covers how to apply linear programming to complex systems to make better decisions — decisions that increase revenue, decrease costs, or improve efficiency of operations. You will explore the role of mathematical models in decision-making and how to formulate basic linear programming models where multiple decisions need to be made while simultaneously satisfying multiple conditions or constraints.
Who this course is for
Business analysts with responsibility for specifying, creating, deploying or interpreting quantitative decision models. Users of linear programming software who need to attain a more solid grounding in the subject.
What you will learn
5 outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Describe what types of decisions are amenable to linear programming solutions
- Formulate a linear programming model, and represent it graphically
- Solve the LP model with spreadsheet-based software
- Use LP models for various decisions — make or buy, where to invest
- Use sensitivity analysis and shadow prices to gain additional information from the LP solution
Week by week
4-Week curriculum overview
This curriculum is identical across all start dates. Expand a week to explore the topics covered.
- Weeks
- 4
- Your week
- Approx. 15 hours
- Level
- Introductory
IntroductionWeek 1
- The role of models in decisions
- Sources of bias and error in human decision making
- Good decisions versus good outcomes
Linear programming modelsWeek 2
- Formulating linear programming models
- Graphical representations
- Solving LP models in spreadsheets
Domain specific illustrationsWeek 3
- Make or buy
- Investment
- Transportation
- Blending
Sensitivity analysisWeek 4
- Role of sensitivity analysis in the larger decision context
- Shadow prices
- Alternate solutions
- Robust optimization
- The simplex method
Instructors
Expert-Led Guidance
Each cohort is led by dedicated instructors and assistant teachers who actively lead weekly discussions, provide personalized feedback and grade your assignments.
Dr. Cliff Ragsdale
Cliff T. Ragsdale is Bank of America Professor of Business Information Technology at Virginia Tech. His primary research interests involve applications of quantitative modeling techniques to managerial decision making problems using microcomputers. Dr. Ragsdale has served as a consultant for a variety of organizations including General Mills, The World Bank, Frontline Systems, and Dominion Energy. His research has been published in Decision Sciences, Naval Research Logistics, Operations Research Letters, Computers and Operations Research, OMEGA, Personal Financial Planning, Financial Services Review, Decision Support Systems, and a number of other scholarly journals. He is a Fellow of Decision Sciences Institute and a member of INFORMS. He has also served as the faculty advisor for the Virginia Tech student chapter of APICS and on the Board of Directors for the Southwest Chapter of APICS.
Before you start
What you need
Everything to have to hand before the first week. Open a row for the detail.
Course Format & Schedule
This is a 4-week, 100% online, asynchronous course.
- No mandatory live sessions: Log in and complete your work at times that fit your schedule.
- Weekly Releases: At the start of each week, you will receive new lecture materials and answer keys for the previous week's exercises.
- Interactive Community: Work through exercises, submit assignments, and engage with your instructor and peers via a private discussion board.
Homework
Short-answer questions testing the concepts, guided data analysis problems using software, and guided data modeling problems using software. Alongside the assigned readings there are supplemental readings available online.
Texts
Spreadsheet Modeling & Decision Analysis, ninth edition, by Cliff Ragsdale, ordered from the publisher. The same text carries you through Integer and Nonlinear Programming and Network Flow and Risk Simulation and Queuing, so one copy covers all three. Also available at Amazon here. The Kindle version is not recommended.
Software
The course uses Analytic Solver Platform for Education software by Frontline systems. Analytic Solver Platform for Education is an add-in for Excel that performs risk analysis, simulation, optimization, decision trees and other analytical methods. With the purchase or rental of the book, you will have a course code that will enable you to download and install the software for 140 days. If you do not have such a license, a license is also available for course registrants through LearnStatistics. Please do not install the regular public trial copy of the software on your own; when the course starts we will provide you with the complete installation instructions to obtain the appropriate copy of the software.
FAQ
Do I need to be able to program to take this course?This course
No. Every model in the course is built and solved in a spreadsheet using an Excel add-in. What you do need is comfort with ordinary spreadsheet operations — cell references, formulas, ranges.
Is this a mathematics course?This course
It is a modeling course. You will meet the simplex method and read a graphical representation of a two-variable problem, but the work is formulating a real decision as an objective and a set of constraints and then interpreting what the solver returns — shadow prices, alternate optima, how sensitive the answer is to the numbers you fed it.
Is there a money-back or satisfaction guarantee?Every course
We handle cancellation and refund requests on an individual basis. If a course is not meeting your expectations or your circumstances change, please reach out to our team (support@learnstatistics.org) so we can work with you on a solution.
Can I transfer to a later start date or withdraw after the course begins?Every course
Yes. If you need to defer your enrollment to a future start date, withdraw mid-course, or transfer your seat to a colleague, please contact us directly. We address these requests flexibly on a case-by-case basis.
Who teaches the course?Every course
Each cohort is led by dedicated instructors and assistant teachers who actively lead weekly discussions, provide personalized feedback and grade your assignments.
Something not answered here? Ask us before you book — and the terms set out what a purchase covers.
Credit, and where it counts
This course carries a verified figure of 3 semester hours. A credit recommendation from the American Council on Education says what a course is worth; the institution receiving it decides whether to award it.
Anyone can take this subject: there is no application, and you do not have to be studying at a university. It also counts toward a degree at Thomas Edison State University, which decides what to award for it. The full position — including the limits each university publishes is on its own page, and worth reading before you buy.