Course Title: Business Solutions Using Spreadsheet Models

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Business Solutions Using Spreadsheet Models

Credit Points: 12

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
ISYS1046	City Campus	Undergraduate	620H Business Info Technology	Face-to-Face

Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Hepu Deng

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 5823

Course Coordinator Email:hepu.deng@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 108.17.89

Course Coordinator Availability: Monday, Tuesday and WEdnesday

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

There is no pre-requisite courses for ISYS2067 Business Solutions Using Spreadhseet Models. Students are assumed to have a basic understanding of  business  knowledge. This is however not critical as students can easily pick up those knowledge from the lectures as well as from outside readings.

Course Description

This course introduces students to a range of business problems for which spreadsheet modelling can be applied for developing solutions or leading to a better understanding of the underlying issues. Risk analysis techniques are emphasised. It is expected that at the conclusion of the course that students are able to use the Spreadsheet modelling techniques more effectively for problem solving in business.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

On the successful completion of this course students would have

* A better understanding of the use of Spreadsheet software for addressing real business problems.

* Enhanced analytic skills and problem solving skills.

* Improved communication skills

* demonstarted abilityies to use the common modelling techniques for problem solving

Upon completion of this course, students will have:

*  An understanding of modelling business problems using spreadsheets. 
*  An understanding of risk analysis techniques in business.
* An appreciation of business decision making issues in an uncertain environment .
* Substantial practical experience in using spreadsheet software which is widely used in business

A key objective of this course is to develop students’ analytical and problem solving skills, so they can critically evaluate business problems and creatively model them.

Overview of Learning Activities

The course consists of a series of one hour lectures and two hour workshops. It is divided into four sections: model building using the investment problem as the vehicle, the forecasting problem, the linear programming problem and finally application of model building to a further three problems decision analysis, break even analysis and inventory analysis.

Overview of Learning Resources

A Course book will be provided to all students at the beginning of the semester which has all the lecture notes and the assignment specifications for teh semester.

All lecture materials, workshop notes, and assignment details are available at the G: drive as well as at the DLS site, and regular updates of those study materials are being carried thorughtout the semester.

A weekly email to all students in the course will be sent out with all the study materials attached for next week during the semester.

Both the Course Coordinator and the tutors will be available for consultation during the semester. 

Overview of Assessment

There are 3 assignments and an end of semester examination. The assignments are described in the Course Manual booklet.

Students must submit assignments by the due date unless there is a medical reason why this is not possible, in which case a medical certificate will be provided. Work submitted late may be rejected or marked with a penalty at the discretion of the lecturer. Students can expect the assignments to be returned within two weeks of submission with written feedback.

Should the lecturer deem that variation to the assessment tasks is needed, this will be discussed with the class and only proceed with documented consent of 75% of the class.