OSCM 435: Business Process Analysis and Simulation Master Syllabus
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University Catalog Description
Every firm needs to manage a variety of processes that consist of activities with different functions owned by different departments. Each process needs to be effective and efficient on the whole, yet managers typically focus on their own departments and miss opportunities for process improvement. This course introduces concepts and tools used in designing, modeling, analyzing, and improving business processes. Analytical tools such as process analysis and queueing analysis are discussed, and process simulation methods using ExtendSim are introduced. Hands-on experiences and in-class examples are provided for students to apply analytical and simulation skills to solve real-world problems.
BS Business Learning Goals
- The social, global, ethical, and legal contexts of business and will be able to reflect on the role of the individual in business.
- The ability to apply knowledge of professional skills necessary for success in business including effective business writing.
- Technical and analytic skills appropriate for success in business.
- The ability to apply knowledge of core business disciplines including accounting, finance, information systems, management, marketing, and operations management.
- How research in the business disciplines contributes to knowledge and how such research is conducted.
Additional Specific Course Objectives for OSCM 435
- Document a real-world business process into a process flowchart.
- Analyze a business process and estimate its performance measures, such as capacity, throughput time, and work-in-process.
- Develop computer simulation models for a business process and effectively use these simulation models and computer animations to investigate and demonstrate what-if scenarios
- Understand the statistical aspects of simulation methodology and know how to conduct input and output statistics analyses.
- Identify inefficiency and ineffectiveness in a business process and propose adequate minor changes or major redesigns to improve the process.
- Propose business solutions in written and verbal forms for process improvement and process design projects.
Approach to Learning
This course is geared for the business professional engaged in decision making or decision support. The emphasis is on business applications rather than rigorous mathematics. Technical discussions are motivated through numerous examples. The format is lectures presenting methodology through numerous simple and fully explained examples. Discussions and questions are highly encouraged.
Content Delivery
This course will be delivered online in the asynchronous format via Blackboard. You will log in to the Canvas course site using your Patriot Pass credentials. All course materials, including lecture videos, additional materials beyond the textbook, announcements, quizzes, assignments, exams, etc., will be posted and delivered online. Further, you will participate in and contribute to the course via various online activities. You should visit the blackboard site frequently each week and spend sufficient time on each weekly module to complete graded assignments by their respective deadlines. The class schedule with the list of weekly topics and due dates of graded assignments is posted on Canvas and on the syllabus. Please be aware that this course is NOT entirely self-paced. You are expected to meet specific deadlines and due dates listed in the Class Schedule. It is your responsibility to keep track of the weekly class schedule of topics, readings, activities, and graded task due.
Deadlines are not flexible and are nonnegotiable. Please refrain from sending emails asking for deadline extensions if you cannot provide a proof of your emergency (doctor’s note…). Please see the FAQs section on the Canvas course page for more information about deadline extensions and missed assignments.
Course Recordings
All course materials posted to Canvas or other course site are private; by federal law, any materials that identify specific students (via their name, voice, or image) must not be shared with anyone not enrolled in this class, including others in your household.
Required Textbook and Software
- Textbook: Business Process Modeling, Simulation and Design, third edition, by Manuel Laguna, Johan Marklund.
ISBNs: 978-1-138-06173-6 / 9781032475905 - Software: ExtendSIM Student 10. Purchase the Basic Student license directly from ExtendSIM.
- Please note that this software is only available for Windows systems.
Methods of Student Evaluation
Students are evaluated based on quizzes, exams, project, class participation and participation to the discussion boards for a total of 1000 points.
Grading
| Discussion boards assignments (5 DBs) | 5% - 50 pts |
| In-class assignments (11 in-class assignments) | 11% - 110 pts |
| Quizzes (5 quizzes) | 10% - 100 pts |
| 3 Group Assignments (Each assignment is worth 80pts) | 24% - 240pts |
| Midterm | 25% - 250pts |
| Final Exam | 25% - 250pts |
Course Grade
- Disputes about a grade on assignments/exams/quizzes must be submitted in writing within a week after the grade has been posted.
- The final letter grade is assigned objectively and strictly according to the WEIGHTED average of the numerical scores of all exams, quizzes, and assignments.
- Final course letter grade assignments:
| Course Average | Course Grade |
|---|---|
| 90.00 – 100 | A |
| 80.00 – 89.99 | B |
| 70.00 – 79.99 | C |
| 60.0 – 69.99 | D |
| 0 to 59.99 | F |
To promote fairness to all students, final scores are non-negotiable and will not be rounded up.
When turning in ANY assignment, you cannot copy another student's response or submit somebody else's work as your own. Make sure all responses are written in your own words and that every file submitted is your own file created by you. George Mason University takes violations of the Honor Code seriously. You should take a moment to look at the last two pages of the syllabus to see the School of Business' sanctions for violations. Options for a "slap on the wrist" or a "warning" do not exist. The sanctions for a first offense are very serious for all class submissions. By choosing to take this course, you agree to uphold the George Mason University Honor Code. Additional details about the George Mason Honor Code can be found here. Please note that faculty are obligated, without exception, to submit any Honor Code violations or suspected violations to the Honor Committee. In your work on all written assignments, keep in mind that you may not present as your own the words, work, or the opinions of someone else without proper acknowledgement.
Assignment Descriptions
Quizzes
To ensure a proper understanding of the course materials, quizzes will be given. Quizzes will be available on the Canvas course page via Respondus Lockdown Browser. A webcam is required. Instructions to download the browser are available on Canvas. It is your responsibility to check your settings before taking the quiz to avoid any technical hardship during the test. The quiz format is a mix of multiple-choice questions and T/F questions.
Exams
There are two exams: the midterm exam covers Part 1 of the course (Process Analysis) and the final exam covers Part 2 of the course (Process Simulation). Exams will be timed and open/available for a 48-hour window. The exams are conducted online using LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor.
Discussion Board Forums
Self-Introduction Blog
For effective online activities, during the first week you will be asked to write an introductory post about yourself on Canvas to help the instructor and the class know you virtually. The deadline and instructions will be specified on Canvas.
Forum Post Activities
For the first part of the course (Process Analysis), there will be a discussion prompt related to each week’s lecture.
For every discussion board, you are required to make your initial post addressing the challenges or questions and, reply to at least one classmate. Your participation will be graded based on the quality of your initial post (relevance to the content, reference to reading materials and lectures, proper grammar) and replies to your classmates. The rubric and requirements are posted on Canvas. You will have access to your classmates’ initial posts after posting yours.
In-class Exercises Submission
To provide you hands-on opportunities for analyzing/simulating business processes in a risk-free environment, I will assign exercises in the lecture videos, and you are required to solve these problems independently and submit your steps and answers as an assignment to Canvas. Please try your best efforts to do the exercise before proceeding with the lecture video where I will provide the solution. You will receive the full points if your submission shows your best efforts even if the answers are incorrect.
Group Project Assignments
There will be three group assignments. The purpose of these assignments is for students to analyze and improve a real-world business process using process analysis and simulation techniques learned in this course. Guided by questions and hints in each class assignment, students will: (i) model a real-world business process in ExtendSim, (ii) simulate the model and interpret the results, (iii) improve the process and quantitatively evaluate the improvement, and (iv) provide actionable managerial insights. More information will be provided as the course progresses.
Students can choose to work alone or group themselves for each assignment with two or three other students. The maximum number of members per group is four students and, a group of two students is not allowed. You may form different groups for each assignment but you are not required to do so.
For each assignment, there will be a deadline to sign-up for a group. Students who want to work alone must create a group in which they are the sole member. Students who do not sign-up for a group by the deadline will be randomly assigned to different groups. Once the deadline has passed, students will not be able to change group for that assignment.
In each assignment, all group members are expected to contribute equally and peer evaluation will be requested from each group member (unless you choose to work alone). The peer evaluation will be used to adjust the individual score. Your individual score from a group assignment is equal to your group score plus an individually-adjusted score determined by the average point you received from peer evaluation. Details will be provided in the Peer Evaluation Form.
Homework
To help you understand the material and prepare for the exams, homework problems will be assigned. The homework problems relevant to each module will be posted on Canvas and the solutions will be provided. However, they will not be collected nor graded. Note that problems in the exams will be closely related to the homework assignments. Please spend time solving the homework problems independently before checking solutions. I highly recommend that you email me if you have any questions or doubts related to a homework assignment.
Course Schedule
Unless otherwise stated, all assignments are due by the end of the week in which they are assigned. For the purposes of this course, a week is defined as beginning at 12:01 am each Monday EST, and ending at 11:59 pm on the following Sunday EST.
This schedule may change. Revisions will be posted on Canvas.
| Dates | Learning Modules | Assignments |
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| Week 1 | Introduction |
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| Week 2 | Process Analysis Basics |
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| Week 3 | Bottleneck Management |
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| Week 4 | Buffers & Little’s Law |
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| Week 5 | Waiting Lines Analysis |
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| Week 6 | Waiting Lines Analysis cont. |
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| Week 7 | Midterm Exam | |
| Week 8 | Recess | |
| Week 9 | Simulation Overview |
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| Week 10 | Simulation Basics |
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| Week 11 | Data and Attributes |
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| Week 12 | Resources and Costs |
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| Week 13 | Advanced Queueing and Routing |
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| Week 14 | Output Analysis I |
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| Week 15 | Output Analysis II |
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| Final Exam | ||
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