The other class that I took during the first module of the spring 2005 semester was Management Decision Analysis. I had heard lots of rumors about this class ... mostly bad.
Management Decision Analysis
Neil Keon taught our class. Neil has been the coolest teacher I've had so far. He is fairly young and extremely smart. He really struggled trying to find a way to teach us linear programming and other maximization and minimization problems. But after a few weeks, he was doing a great job and finding new ways of explaining the same thing. There were some parts of it that I enjoyed and there were other parts that I really didn't like. The current Excel modeling class that I am in right now is simply a continuation of Management Decision Analysis.
The homework was tough. In class, he explained it so well, but when it came time to actually do the homework, I had a really hard time figuring it out. But once you figure it out, it all seems so simple.
We used Excel extensively throughout this course. But for the final, we had to write out the program. We couldn't do a trial and error approach. But Neil did a great job of coaching us through it so that we'd do well on the final.
I remember going to a review session and there were a bunch of students who really didn't get this stuff at all (they were the HR/OB touchy-feely students). I just had to laugh at them. After Neil explained things for the 15th time, I just chuckled. Yeah ... I had to have it explained to me about 2 or 3 times, but I got it eventually. For a lot of people it was just not their forte.
I did well on the homework and final and I came out of the class (suprisingly) with an A-.
Excel Modeling
I'm taking a day off from work today. I will be working on trying to understand our next case for this class. We're meeting next Tuesday as a group. I hope to be able to understand all the issues and get some numbers in a spreadsheet so we won't have to spend too much time on this case. Snir told us in class that this would be a tough case. He said the other two cases we have left will be "fun" so I assume they won't be as difficult as this one.
I'm really looking forward to getting out of this class!
Master Negotiation
I haven't looked at the next exercise yet. I'll do that on Saturday or Sunday.
Chess Update
The 2/10/06 chessgames.com puzzle ... 36. ? white to play.
I would play 36. Bxg5 hxg5 37. Qxh5 ....well that won't work. The black Q would take my rook. The white rook would have to move ... maybe attack the black queen. Another option is 36. h4. Boy this is tough ... it is a Friday puzzle.
The answer is : 36. Bxg5 hxg5 37. Qf7 Kh6 38. Re7 1-0
So I had the right idea to begin with ... I just needed to think about it some more. No matter what black does, it's over. The rook and queen have it all covered. I love chess puzzzles!
As soon as I finish studying, I'm going to play some chess! Motivation is great!
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