Data-driven Decision-making: From Policy to Practice

Catalog description

This course focuses on the use of quantitative methods to inform the policy-making process, help managers plan how organize the delivery of services in a cost efficient and effective manner, and assist decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. Specific cases will be used to provide the context of the analysis and familiarize students with real-world operational problems managers confront. The case material is structured to simulate real-world conditions such as working under conditions of uncertainty, having access to partial information about the problem being investigated, the need to collect data and make “plausible” assumptions about what has happened and why. Numbers and their analysis will be the primary tool used to understand the problem and explore solutions. Students will use Microsoft Excel throughout the course.