Operations Research (OR) is a field in which people use mathematical and engineering methods to study optimization problems in Business and Management, Economics, Computer Science, Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering, etc. This course introduces frameworks and ideas about various types of optimization problems in the business world. In particular, we focus on how to formulate real business problems into mathematical models that can be solved by computers.



Operations Research (1): Models and Applications
This course is part of Operations Research Specialization

Instructor: 孔令傑 (Ling-Chieh Kung)
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What you'll learn
Formulate different types of mathematical models to tackle optimization problems with business applications.
Technically, the concepts and applications of Linear Programming, Integer Programming, and Nonlinear Programming will be delivered.
Solve an optimization problem with one of the most accessible software: Microsoft Excel.
Skills you'll gain
- Case Studies
- Decision Making
- Portfolio Management
- Scheduling
- Production Planning
- Mathematical Modeling
- Industrial Engineering
- Business Mathematics
- Business Analytics
- Operations Research
- Inventory Management System
- Operations Management
- Applied Mathematics
- Microsoft Excel
- Business Operations
- Linear Algebra
- Process Optimization
- Business Modeling
- Resource Allocation
- Algorithms
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There are 6 modules in this course
This lecture gives students an overview of what they may expect from this course, including the fundamental concept and brief history of Operations Research. We will also talk about how mathematical programming can be used to solve real-world business problem.
What's included
6 videos2 readings1 assignment
Linear programming (LP) is one of the most important method to achieve the outcome of optimization problems. We can use LP models for various decisions, including production, inventory, personnel scheduling, etc.
What's included
15 videos1 assignment
In many practical areas, some of the optimization problems occur with integrality constraints imposed on some of the variables. Facility location, machine scheduling, and vehicle routing are some examples. Integer Programming (IP) provides a mathematical way to solve these problems.
What's included
15 videos1 assignment
In the real life, many problems involve nonlinearities. Examples include pricing, inventory, and portfolio optimization. For such problems, we may use Nonlinear Programming (NLP) to formulate them into models and solve them.
What's included
15 videos1 assignment
In this lecture, we introduce a real business case that has been solved with Operations Research by the instructor. The problem is for a company to schedule its customer service representatives to minimize the total amount of staff shortage. We will demonstrate the problem, process of conducting an OR study, integer programming formulation, and result.
What's included
9 videos1 assignment
In the final lecture of this course, we will summarize what we have learned. We will also preview what we may learn in future courses.
What's included
3 videos1 assignment
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National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University
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Fundação Instituto de Administração
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University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Reviewed on Sep 30, 2024
great to learn this skill. this is directly applicable in my work as an account manager
Reviewed on Sep 28, 2022
This course just opened my eyes to real value of mathematical operation in different business and now I am much more competent for jobs which need high knowledge of operational research.
Reviewed on Jun 25, 2022
Great introduction to linear programming, integer programming, and non-linear programming with real life examples.

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