Operations Research Exam Preparation
Guide
Course Introduction
Operations Research is a discipline that applies advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions. This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts, models, and techniques used in operations research, such as linear programming, network models, decision analysis, queuing theory, inventory management, and simulation. Through real-world examples and practical problem-solving exercises, students learn to formulate, analyze, and solve complex decision-making problems in diverse fields including business, engineering, logistics, healthcare, and public services. The course emphasizes both the theoretical underpinnings and the practical applications of operations research tools in optimizing processes and resources.
Recommended Textbook
Managerial Decision Modeling 6th International Edition by Cliff T. Ragsdale
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15 Chapters
1113 Verified Questions
1113 Flashcards
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2
Chapter 1: Introduction to Modeling and Decision Analysis
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51 Verified Questions
51 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following steps in the problem-solving process is most likely to incur resistance from people affected by the proposed solution?
A)Formulate model
B)Use model to analyze problem
C)Test results
D)Implement solution
Answer: D
Q2) Virtually everyone who uses a spreadsheet today for model building and decision making
A)is a practitioner of management science.
B)possesses an advanced knowledge of mathematics and computer programming languages.
C)is a CPA.
D)is in a position to influence decision makers.
Answer: A
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3
Chapter 2: Introduction to Optimization and Linear Programming
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62 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following fields of management science finds the optimal method of using resources to achieve the objectives of a business?
A)Simulation
B)Regression
C)Mathematical programming
D)Discriminant analysis
Answer: C
Q2) The objective function for a LP model is 3 X<sub>1</sub> + 2 X<sub>2</sub>. If X<sub>1</sub> = 20 and X<sub>2</sub> = 30, what is the value of the objective function?
A)0
B)50
C)60
D)120
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: Modeling and Solving Lp Problems in a Spreadsheet
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89 Verified Questions
89 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The "Analyze Without Solving" tool in Risk Solver Platform (RSP) is useful for
A)verifying the equations in a spreadsheet model.
B)toggling between absolute and relative cell referencing.
C)executing the Excel spreadsheet layout Wizard.
D)naming cells and cell ranges for easier modifiability.
Answer: A
Q2) The English-reading eye scans
A)Right to left
B)Bottom to top
C)Left to Bottom
D)Left to right
Answer: D
Q3) What does the Excel =SUMPRODUCT(A1:A5,C6;C10) command do?
A)Sums each range and multiplies the sums.
B)Sum each pair of cells and multiples each sum.
C)Multiplies the contents of cells containing the =SUM() command.
D)Multiplies each pair of cells and sums each product.
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Sensitivity Analysis and the Simplex Method
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72 Verified Questions
72 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) When a solution is degenerate the shadow prices and their ranges
A)may be interpreted in the usual way but they may not be unique.
B)must be disregarded.
C)are always valid and unique.
D)are always understated
Q2) For a minimization problem, if a decision variable's final value is 0, and its reduced cost is negative, which of the following is true?
A)Alternate optimal solutions exist.
B)There is evidence of degeneracy.
C)No feasible solution was found.
D)The variable has a non-negativity constraint.
Q3) Why might a decision maker prefer a solution in the interior of the feasible region of a linear programming problem?
A)Such a solution has a better objective function value than any other solution
B)Such a solution is likely to remain feasible if some of the coefficients in the problem change
C)The decision maker is not sure if he/she wants to maximize or minimize the objective
D)Such a solution has more binding constraints
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6
Chapter 5: Network Modeling
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73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The number of constraints in network flow problems is determined by the number of A)nodes.
B)arcs.
C)demands.
D)supplies.
Q2) Almost all network problems can be viewed as special cases of the A)transshipment problem.
B)shortest path problem.
C)maximal flow problem.
D)minimal spanning tree problem.
Q3) Which property of network flow models guarantees integer solutions?
A)linear constraints and balance of flow equation format
B)linear objective function coefficients
C)integer objective function coefficients
D)integer constraint RHS values and balance of flow equation format
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Chapter 6: Integer Linear Programming
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73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) An ILP problem has 5 binary decision variables. How many possible integer solutions are there to this problem?
A)5
B)10
C)25
D)32
Q2) If a company produces Product 1, then it must produce at least 150 units of Product 1. Which of the following constraints enforces this condition?
A)X<sub>1</sub> \(\le\)150Y<sub>1</sub>
B)X<sub>1</sub> \(\ge\)150Y<sub>1</sub> \(\ge\) 0
C)X<sub>1</sub>Y<sub>1</sub> \(\le\)150
D)X<sub>1</sub> \(\ge\) 150 + Y<sub>1</sub>
Q3) A company has four projects, numbered 1 through 4. If any project is selected for implementation, each lower-numbered project must also be selected for implementation. Formulate the constraints to enforce these conditions.
Q4) Refer to Exhibit 6.2. What formula would go into cells B11:E11 and cells F8:F10?
Q5) Refer to Exhibit 6.1. What formula should go in cell D15 of the above Excel spreadsheet?
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Chapter 7: Goal Programming and Multiple Objective
Optimization
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62 Verified Questions
62 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Refer to Exhibit 7.4. What formulas should go in cell E26 of the spreadsheet?
Q2) Refer to Exhibit 7.1. If the company is very concerned about going over the $200,000 budget, which cell value should change and how should it change?
A)D13, increase
B)D13, decrease
C)D14, increase
D)D14, decrease
Q3) Decision-making problems which can be stated as a collection of desired objectives are known as what type of problem?
A)A non-linear programming problem.
B)An unconstrained programming problem.
C)A goal programming problem.
D)An integer programming problem.
Q4) The RHS value of a goal constraint is referred to as the A)target value.
B)constraint value.
C)objective value.
D)desired value.
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Chapter 8: Nonlinear Programming and Evolutionary Optimization
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69 Verified Questions
69 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Refer to Exhibit 8.1. What formula is used in cell D12 of the spreadsheet for this problem?
A)=SUMPRODUCT(B3:C3, B12:C12)
B)=SUMPRODUCT(B4:C4, B12:C12)
C)=SUMPRODUCT(B5:C5, B12:C12)
D)=SUMPRODUCT(B7:C7, B12:C12)
Q2) An office supply company is attempting to determine the order quantity for Mt. White fountain pens which are sold to local executives. Annual demand is 5,000 units and each pen costs the store $50. It costs $75 to place an order and the inventory carrying cost rate is 30% of the value of the item.
Formulate the objective function for this problem. Let Q indicate the order quantity.
Q3) Refer to Exhibit 8.2. What values would you enter in the Risk Solver Platform (RSP) task pane for the above Excel spreadsheet?
Objective Cell:
Variables Cells:
Constraints Cells:
Q4) Refer to Exhibit 8.2. What formula would you place into cell B5 to calculate Total Floor Area?
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Chapter 9: Regression Analysis
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77 Verified Questions
77 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The terms b<sub>0</sub> and b<sub>1</sub> are referred to as
A)population variables.
B)population parameters.
C)estimated population variables.
D)estimated population parameters.
Q2) Refer to Exhibit 9.1. Interpret the meaning of the "Lower 95%" and "Upper 95%" terms in cells F16:G16 of the spreadsheet.
Q3) The terms b<sub>0</sub> and b<sub>1</sub> are
A)estimated population parameters.
B)estimated intercept and slope values, respectively.
C)random variables.
D)all of these.
Q4) The standard prediction error is A)always smaller than the standard error.
B)used to construct confidence intervals for predicted values.
C)measures the variability in the predicted values.
D)all of these.
Q5) Refer to Exhibit 9.3. Interpret the meaning of the "Lower 95%" and "Upper 95%" terms in cells F16:G16 of the spreadsheet.
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Chapter 10: Discriminant Analysis
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Refer to Exhibit 10.5. What formulas should go in cells C24:D26 of the spreadsheet?
Q2) Refer to Exhibit 10.4. Compute the discriminant score and predicted group for someone with Score 1 of 238 and Score 2 of 140.
Q3) Refer to Exhibit 10.1. The university has received applications from several new students and would like to predict which group they would fall into. What is the discriminant score for a student with a Quantitative score of 686 and a Verbal score of 601. Use five (5) significant figures in your coefficients.
A)1.29 \(\le\) discriminant score \(\le\)1.30
B)1.69 \(\le\) discriminant score \(\le\) 1.70
C)2.69 \(\le\) discriminant score \(\le\)2.70
D)6.05\(\le\)discriminant score \(\le\) 6.06
Q4) Refer to Exhibit 10.1. How many observations are classified correctly?
A)11
B)9
C)17
D)20
Q5) Refer to Exhibit 10.6. What formulas should go in cells C22:D23, E4:G24, and F24 of the spreadsheet?
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Chapter 11: Time Series Forecasting
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116 Verified Questions
116 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Refer to Exhibit 11.9. What is the Input X Range in the Regression command settings dialog box?
A)B3:B14
B)C3:C14
C)D3:D14
D)B3:D14
Q2) Refer to Exhibit 11.23. What is the forecast for time period 13?
Q3) Refer to Exhibit 11.12. What Excel command can be used in cells F4:F14 in lieu of a formula based on the regression statistics?
A)=TREND($H$3:$H$14,$C$3:$G$14, C3:G3)
B)=TREND($H$3:$H$14,$B$3:$G$14, B3:G3)
C)=TREND($H$3:$H$14,$A$3:$G$14, A3:G3)
D)=TREND($H$3:$H$14,$C$3:$D$14, C3:D3)
Q4) Refer to Exhibit 11.15. What is the forecast for time period 13-15?
Q5) Refer to Exhibit 11.10. What is the Input Y Range in the Regression command settings dialog box?
A)B3:B14
B)C3:C14
C)D3:D14
D)E3:E14
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Chapter 12: Introduction to Simulation Using Risk Solver
Platform
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Inventory position is defined as
A)ending inventory + outstanding orders
B)ending inventory - backorders
C)outstanding orders - on hand inventory
D)ending inventory
Q2) If chance or uncertainty is present in a system then there is an element of ____ in the decision-making problem.
A)danger
B)security
C)risk
D)difficulty
Q3) Which of the following do not help determine the magnitude of risk in a decision-making problem?
A)The level of uncertainty in outcome.
B)The magnitude of potential loss.
C)The level of management interest in the problem.
D)The level of uncertainty in input variables.
Q4) What function should be used for generating random numbers between a and b from a symmetric triangular distribution when the most likely value is (a + b)/2? To view all questions and flashcards with
Chapter 13: Queuing Theory
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80 Verified Questions
80 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Joe's Copy Center has 10 copiers. They break down and require service quite often. Time between breakdowns follows an exponential distribution for each copier. The repair person services machines as quickly as possible, but the service time follows an exponential distribution. What type of system is it?
A)M/M/1 with Finite Population
B)M/M/1 with Finite Queue
C)M/M/1
D)M/M/10
Q2) Customers arrive at a store randomly, following a Poisson distribution at an average rate of 90 per hour. How many customers would you expect to arrive in a 20 minute period?
Q3) A doctor's office only has 8 chairs. The doctor's service times and customer inter-arrival times are exponentially distributed. What type of system is it?
A)M/M/1
B)M/M/8
C)M/M/1 with Finite Queue
D)M/M/1 with Finite Population
Q4) Refer to Exhibit 13.3. What is the average number of customers in the service line?
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Decision Analysis
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101 Verified Questions
101 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Refer to Exhibit 14.5. What is the correct decision for this investor based on an expected monetary value criteria?
A)A
B)B
C)C
D)D
Q2) Refer to Exhibit 14.11. What formula should go in cell C13 of the probability table?
Q3) Refer to Exhibit 14.4. What formula should go in cell D14 of the spreadsheet to compute the EVPI?
A)MAX(D5:D8)-D12
B)D12-MIN(D5:D8)
C)SUMPRODUCT(B12:C12,B10:C10)-MAX(D5:D8)
D)D12-MAX(D5:D8)
Q4) Refer to Exhibit 14.13. Which car should the student choose based on the Summary worksheet?
Q5) Refer to Exhibit 14.13. What formula should go in cell G11 and copied to cells G12:G13 of the Price worksheet to compute the Consistency Measure?
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Project Management Online
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63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Refer to Exhibit 15.1. What array formula is placed in cell E5 to calculate the Earliest Start Time?
A)E2 + D2
B)MAX(IF(ISERR(FIND($A$5:$A$17,C5)),0,$F$5:$F$17))
C)H2 - D2
D)MIN(IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(A5,$C$2:$C$8)),$G$2:$G$8))
Q2) One of PERT's bold assumptions is that
A)individual activity times are independent of each other.
B)individual activity times are dependent of each other.
C)individual activity times are constant.
D)individual activity times can be added together.
Q3) The critical path is the ____ path throughout the network.
A)longest
B)most expensive
C)shortest
D)least expensive
Q4) Refer to Exhibit 15.5. If the following project must be completed by day 18 at minimum cost how do we change the LP model?
Q5) Refer to Exhibit 15.4. Draw the CPM network for this problem. Use AON notation.
Page 17
Q6) Refer to Exhibit 15.3. Draw the CPM network for this problem. Use AON notation.
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