Posted: April 27th, 2015

Find a peer-reviewed academic article that provides an example of where one of your two chosen techniques has been applied to solve a real problem in transport, logistics, supply chain management or infrastructure. Discuss what the study reported in the article did well and what could have been improved. Your discussion should be limited to two pages and should include a brief summary of the analysis technique and the article itself (i.e. what problem was addressed, how the technique was applied and what was found).

Task Description

Prepare a professional report that addresses the tasks listed below. In preparing your report, read and follow the guide named ‘How to write a report’ that will be posted to Blackboard.

First, select two of the following analysis techniques:

1. Linear regression,
2. Demand modeling,
3. Linear programming,

(Times new roman, size 12, 1.5spacing)

 Task 1 (6 marks)

Find a peer-reviewed academic article that provides an example of where one of your two chosen techniques has been applied to solve a real problem in transport, logistics, supply chain management or infrastructure. Discuss what the study reported in the article did well and what could have been improved. Your discussion should be limited to two pages and should include a brief summary of the analysis technique and the article itself (i.e. what problem was addressed, how the technique was applied and what was found).

Task 2 (4 marks)

Ethical issues have been discussed throughout the course. Discuss one or more ethical issues that can arise from the use of the second analysis technique you selected in Task 0. Hint: ethical issues may arise in the choice of analysis technique, inputs, outputs or objective function. Issues may arise from the way that the results are presented, interpreted or applied. Other ethical issues may also arise. Your discussion should be limited to one and half pages. Hint: You can use evidence from academic literature, professional literature, your personal experience, common sense, etc.

Task 3 (15 marks)

Simulation is a technique that allows us to incorporate uncertainty into our models. In linear regression we modelled uncertainty through the confidence intervals that we estimated. In linear programming we used sensitivity analysis to model uncertainty around the parameters. In the lecture on project management we used probability distributions to model uncertainty around the time to complete a project that consisted of a number of tasks. Simulation is another technique that allows us to account for uncertainty by repeatedly drawing numbers at random to use as inputs into our models. Briefly, simulation allows us to explore the range of possible values for inputs and to see what effect the various values have on the outputs of a model.

The second task is to explain the technique of simulation in your own words and to create a simulation model that can be used to address a problem in transport, logistics, supply chain management or infrastructure. Hint: Simulation can be used as an input into regression models, linear programming models or desk top models. You can combine simulation with one of the topics discussed in tasks 1 and 2 or combine it with a different technique (i.e. desktop modelling).

 In your response, explain the problem that your model is attempting to solve and why that would be an important problem to study and show how your model can be used to assist decision making. You will need to build your model in Excel and submit this alongside your report. This section should not be more than 6 pages.