BUS 439: Systems and Simulation, Process Management

BUS 439: Systems and Simulation, Process Management

Instructor:Scott Metlen

Office hours:T 9:00-11:00 AM, W 8:00-9:00 PM,and by appointment.

Office :ALB 112

Phone number:208-885-5480

Email:

Time and Room

3:30-4:45pm Tuesday ThursdayALB335. Lab is Monday and WednesdayALB2048:00-9:15PM. Final draft of written project and test four are due Friday of Finals.

Required Texts

Harrell, Ghosh, Bowden. (2011). Simulation Using ProModel 3rd edition. New Your, NY, USA: McGraw Hill.
ISBN-13 9780073401300

Course Prerequisite

Students must have passed BUS370, or petition.

Course Objectives in a mixed team and individual context

1. to understand and practice process management: the design, implementation, management/control, and continuous improvement of any process
2. to understand Business Process Management (BPM)
3. to provide experience in building, operating, and interpreting discrete event computer simulation
4. to design, validate, verify, and perform Monte Carlo and Discrete Event Simulation experiments
5. to apply statistical methods in analyzing output from simulation experiments
6. to enhance your complex problem resolution skills using critical thinking and other appropriate tools.
7. to enhance communication skills
8. to expose students to industry and vice versa (help find employment and further refine personal carrier goals)

Grading

There will be grades; each student will be assessed based on his/her individual performance as well as his/her performance as a member of a team. I reserve the authority to adjust team grades on an individual team member bases if it is clear to me that a reduction or advancement of a grade is warranted. The weights for grade components are summarized below:
1. Homework and gates (see homework section below) = 15%
2. Exams (4, including final) = 50%
3. Simulation Project = 35%
Total 100%

Homework

I assign homework/cases regularly and it will usually be due the week after I assign them. The successful completion of these problems will be essential to learn the material in this class. When grading homework assignments, I will be interested not only in the content, but also in your ability to write. Do your HW with a word processor and/or other software programs.

Homework (HW): I have tried something relative to HW the last few years that has generated positive feedback relative to learning and fairness. Students can find HW, tests, and projects that I assign somewhat challenging/frustrating. To mimic decision situations you find at work, the questions are open-ended, vague and often deal with open ended and vague scenarios where finding the optimal answer may not be possible. Because the scenarios mimic situations you will encounter when you become managers, or require the type of insight/understanding you will need as managers I feel it is important to continue with such questions. In the past, many students would answer superficially (at least in my opinion), get a poor grade, get upset, and not learn. In addition, some student teams would not work as teams; there was free riding, some dissent, and general team problems.

Team problems are an issue you will be facing the rest of your business career. When a team member is experiencing serious life issues, other team members will often step up and cover for that member, as they should. However, when a team member abuses such privileges when there is no serious issue, they are often fired. In this class, teams can either ‘discipline’ a team member with a lower grade and/or ‘fire’ an individual from the team for not participating fully after documented efforts directed towards complete participation by all. The last effort towards complete participation would be enlisting my help in motivating participation. If a person is fired from a team, they will receive a zero on the homework and project portions of the class making it impossible to pass the course. For the final project you will choose your own team, 3-5 members. Homework is a team effort, but personal grades are only achieved if the team acknowledges your participation. There are two homework assignments where you will have a chance to evaluate your work relative to your team mates work, your final grade can be influenced by what others say about your contribution.

I or the TA will assess written homework and hand it back with feedback of displayed ability and guidance of how to improve (if it is possible to improve the answer). Given the homework displays a good-faith effort, the grade will be 1/1. However, if a good-faith effort is not displayed or no homework is handed in, the grade will be 0/0. Feedback for mathematical homework will consist of me supplying the answer and you, the student, determining where you went wrong. To achieve high performance on the test and project, it is imperative that homework material is not only understood, but that you can perform at a high level in completing the homework tasks. Except for test 3 the tests are take home and can take hours, reserve lots of time. Test 3 will be done during a lap the first week of the fourth month of the semester.

The tests and project will be evaluated. If a person scores below an 80% on either or both of the first two tests, they will have an option of retaking a like test with the stipulation that the highest score achievable is an 85%. Such a score is analogous to weighting the two tests in some manner, but it gives an individual who scored below a 70 the opportunity to achieve a high grade and still have some ownership of their poor performance on the first try. For example, if a person scored a 30% on the first try and a 95% on the second and the weights were 40% and 60% respectfully, that person would only earn a 69%, yet that person would have displayed mastery over the subject. Under the business rule stated, that person would receive an 85%.

The weight of each test score for the final grade will be adjusted in your favor with the higher score getting the most weight.

Final letter grade for the class will be assigned based on your final score: 89.5+ = A, 79.5 to 89.4 = B, 69.5 to 79.4 = C, 59.5 to 69.4 = D, 59.4- = F.

Special notes

1. Class attendance is expected. If you miss a class, you are responsible for catching up. If your absence is for a good reason (my opinion, with a minimum bound based on University excused absences), I will help you catch up.

2. A lap top computer acting as a PC is necessary to complete this course. You must down-load ProModel, directions have been sent to you. ProModel will not work on Macs unless they are booted up as a PC. You will also want your computer to start up as a 32 bit instead of a 64 bit computer.

3. Except for test three, tests are take home. All tests will be completed on a computer and be open book/computer/note. Test one and two are due by the end of the third month of the semester. Test four is due by the end of finals week. All tests will be delivered to you by the first week of class. Test 3 will be done during a lap the first week of the fourth month of the semester.

4. Each team must complete a simulation/workflow project of a process or processes relative to process management utilizing ProModel and possibly ExtendSim. The guidelines of this project consist of eight deliverables: term project proposal (PEP) one week after your site visit, a working base model three weeks after your site visit, an intermediate progress project report, two team member evaluations (one mid semester, the other due finals week), a completed report for my feedback before the oral presentation, a preliminary power point, a practice presentation to your sponsor, an oral presentation by the team to their sponsor, and a final report. All members of each team must collaboratively present the completed project to the management of the participating organization. Travel to the firm is required to gather information and determine project scope and then to present the final recommendations.

5. Academic honesty and integrity are core values at the University of Idaho; academic dishonesty or misconduct is NOT tolerated. Cheating and plagiarism violate UI’s code of academic conduct [Student Code of Conduct 2300 – UI handbook]. Anyone found cheating on course examinations, quizzes, and assignments, will receive an “F” in the course and will have a letter noting the incident attached to their permanent file. University administrators may take further disciplinary actions.

6. Note for Students with a documented disability: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor during the first week of class of any accommodation(s) needed for the course. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services located in the Idaho Commons Building, Room 306 (phone: 885-6307; email r go to

As a member of the faculty of the CBE at UI, I have the following responsibilities:

1. Come prepared to every class with a well thought-out presentation.
2. Explain why a topic is important before going into depth relative to that topic. 3. Design the class so students can accomplish class objectives.
4. Create a mutually respectful classroom environment.

As a student enrolled in the CBE at UI, I have the following responsibilities:

1. Come to class on time fully prepared and be an active participant.
2. Be courteous and professional.
3. Follow the instructor’s policies on the use of electronic devices.
4. Follow the University of Idaho student code of conduct (see Academic Integrity section).

I assume that you are interested in being a successful business professionals and that you are taking this class to learn skills that will help you make great decisions in the face of uncertainty. To that end I assume you will be an effective co-producer of the new skill sets you will be learning in this class. Those skill sets include:

1. Effective communication with your sponsor and manager (often, polite, and concise)
2. Ability to build complex processes in a simulation software
3. Ability to manipulate large data sets
4. Ability and willingness to research best in practice to help improve the current state
5. Ability and willingness to work as a team to not only produce product, but, more importantly, how to use a team to learn fast and well
6. Ability and willingness to be proactive in an ambiguous/stochastic world, embrace ambiguity due to the opportunities provided

This class is divided into four parts:

1) What is a process and process management:

Relative to process management, what are/is the:

Current state (where are we)

Problem and advantage with the current state (where are we)

What is a better alternative (where should we go using lean and BPM)

How do we reach the better alternative (how are we going to get there)

Is it worth the journey (is it worth it, NPV analysis)

2) Creating schematics of processes inPro Model

Drawing pictures, gathering data, understanding activities within each step of a process, understanding inputs, understanding process/step/input/activity control, knowledge management, business rules

3) Simulating processes using discrete event simulation, Pro Model

Developing, debugging, executing, verifying, validating, analyzing, reporting findings, performingsensitivity analysis of simulations of processes, and developing workflows.

4) Putting the above three parts together in a project of an operational or soon to be operational process or set of interconnected processes for an organization.

The following schedule is vague so that we, as a class, can retain the freedom to pace the class at a rate where the majority are understanding concepts and developing the necessary skills to accomplish the various deliverables. The pace will not be slow and there will be four exams. Many people are not comfortable with such a vague schedule because they want to allocate their time across other classes and life requirements. That is not a problem in this case, including class time; just allocate at least 10 to 12 hours per week to this class evenly paced across the week and semester. Additional assignments will be delivered throughout the class.

Week 1-2, part one above. Read the frameworks under ‘Frameworks’ and the material under ‘Supplementary’, and ‘Resources’ sections of the web site. In addition, become familiar with Ch’s 1 - 4 of the ProModel book as quickly as possible. Goggle discrete event simulation, process management, lean, six sigma, lean-six sigma, and Total Quality Management. As you read and research, address the questions listed in part one relative to process management in most companies. In other words, what is the state of process management in most organizations? Also, write down questions for discussion in class.

Week 1-6, part two. ProModel Ch 4-11 and directions in the ProModel Software

Week 7-end, part three & four above. ProModel rest of the book

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you'll help them to become what they are capable of becoming.
-Goethe

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what needs to be accomplished and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

- General George S. Patton

We all should be proactive and intrinsically motivated learners, that is how I will treat you and that is how the most effective managers treat their employees.