The concentration in Operations & Information Management (OPIM) provides students with sound conceptual development in data structures and database design, supply chain, systems management, and systems development. Emphasis in these courses is on helping students develop a solid conceptual base, integrate this conceptual base with technical skills, and deliver business-smart applications and systems.
Primary Concentration:
all four courses listed below.
Secondary Concentration:
OPIM 5272 (372), OPIM 5894 (300) (Fall), and either OPIM 5894 (300) (Spr) or OPIM 5270 (370)
Students who participate in edgelab in the Fall or Spring semesters are eligible for 6 OPIM credits which can be used towards the concentration.
OPIM 5894 (300): Supply Chain and Business Process Analysis
This course will cover both business process analysis and supply chain management.
Business process analysis aims at helping firms add value and compete by improving and
redesigning their key processes. Supply chain management deals with the management of
material and information in production-distribution networks. Reducing costs, increasing
product availability and increasing responsiveness to changes in the market are the focus
of supply chain management. We will use computer simulation (both process and Monte
Carlo) as a means to study and improve business processes and supply chains, and to
model risk. After completing the course, students will be able to model existing
processes, validate their models, model alternatives for improvement, evaluate these
alternatives and recommend improvements after evaluating various metrics of interest to
businesses.
OPIM 5894 (300): Enterprise Information Security and Auditing
Most companies handle their financial, operational, HR and other data in electronic form,
and this data is the input to their annual report and other decision making tools. This
course shows you how to secure the data handling and management process. A wellcontrolled
and secure data supply chain, using proper security architecture, can be used to
your advantage as a competitive tool. Given growing compliance requirements, being
able to verify and audit your security process instills confidence in your customers and
investors, and reduces unexpected market losses (think Choicepoint, Citibank, credit
card, etc. data thefts and losses).
OPIM 5270 (370): Data Mining and Business Intelligence
Corporations today are said to be data rich but information poor. For example, retailers
can easily process and capture millions of transactions every day. In addition, the
widespread proliferation of economic activity on the Internet leaves behind a rich trail of
micro-level data on consumers, their purchases, retailers and their offerings, auction
bidding, music sharing, so on and so forth. Data mining techniques can help companies
discover knowledge and acquire business intelligence from these massive datasets.
This course will cover data mining for business intelligence. Data mining refers to
extracting or "mining" knowledge from large amounts of data. It consists of several
techniques that aim at discovering rich and interesting patterns that can bring value to
organizations. Examples of such patterns include fraud detection, consumer behavior, and
credit approval. The course will cover the most important data mining techniques ---
classification, clustering, association rule mining, visualization, prediction --- through a
hands-on approach using SAS JMP and other specialized software, such as the opensource
WEKA software.
OPIM 5272 (372): Business Process and Data Management
Data is a core business asset, and the need to manage it efficiently and use it effectively
has assumed paramount importance. In all business domains – financial, marketing,
operations, etc., pertinent and available data is bedrock for actionable business
intelligence, predictive modeling and other data mining techniques, which is a key
element of business productivity and growth. This course introduces market-leading
techniques for transaction processes as well as decision making and business intelligence,
which help to identify and manage key data from business processes. It provides the
essential tools required for further data mining applications. It combines lecture, class
discussion and hands-on computer work in a business-oriented environment. We will
learn how to:
- Manage data for various business applications.
- Conduct data retrieval and reporting for business analysis.
- Design interfaces to automate and simplify work.
- Implement a database using a DBMS tool (Oracle or MS Access).
- Lead data management and business intelligence projects.