BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI

WORK INTEGRATED LEARNING PROGRAMMES

Course Title

Decision Analysis

Course No(s)

MM ZG535

Credit Units

Four

Credit Model

4+0+0

Course Author

Mr. PB Venkataraman, Dr. Garima Singhal, Mr. Sunil Rengreji

Version No

Rev 0

Date

1 Aug 2015

Course Objectives
We make decisions every day. Some decisions are routine but some have a profound impact on our
life. Gaining competency in such a vital subject is highly desirable both for personal and professional
wellbeing. The objective of this course is to provide an opportunity to gain this mastery: to be able to
achieve clarity of action in making any decision on which we focus our attention.
Text Books:
T1

Ronald A. Howard., Ali E. Abbas, Foundations of Decision Analysis, Pearson, 1 ed.,

2015

T2

Michael A. Roberto., The Art of Critical Decision Making, Audible.com, 2013

Reference Book(s) & other resources:

R1

Daniel Kahneman., Thinking, Fast and Slow., Penguin., 2011

R2

Piyanka Jain, Puneet Sharma., Behind Every Good Decision: How Anyone Can Use
Business Analytics to Turn Data into Profitable Insight. Gildan Media., 2014

R3

Charles Wheelan., Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data, W. W.
Norton & Company; 1 edition. 2014

Learning Outcomes:

No

Learning Outcomes

LO1

Explain the decision making process from analytical and neuroscience

perspective.

LO2

Relate to the cognitive biases and interpret ones decision objectively.

LO3

Comprehend various decision making tools and apply them to analyze data.

LO4

List the technology solutions available for decision analysis.

LO5

Experiential learning components

1. Lab work:
2. Project work:
3. Case study:
4. Work integration:
5. Design work/Field work:
Contact
Hour

List of Topic Title (ref to

content structure in part A)

Topic # (from content structure)

1-2

Introduction to the Course

Course detailing
Decision notions

3-4

How Do We Decide

Neural correlates of decision process

Distinct stages of stimulus encoding
and response preparation
Reaction time

Reference

5-6

Conflict between intuitive

and rational decision making

Choices, decision and actions

(deciding, attending and intending)

7-8

Defining a Good Decision

Common misconceptions
Elements of a good decision
Concept of value in decision

9-11

Decision traps

Anchoring
Status-Quo
Sunk-Cost
Confirming evidence
Framing
Estimating & forecasting
Overconfidence
Prudence
Recallability

12-14

Analytical tools

Aggregate analysis
Correlation analysis
Trend analysis
Sizing & estimation
Time series
Segmentation
Customer life cycle

15-16

Making any decision

Sensitivity analysis
Decision diagrams

17-18

Framing a decision

Framing a decision

19-20

From Phenomenon to
Assessment

21-22

Framing a decision

Making a decision
Selecting a frame

23-24

Decision analysis cycle

Decision analysis cycle

25-26

Decisions and ethics

Role of ethics in decision making

Information transmission
Perception
Cognition
Motivation

 Ethical distinctions
Ethical situations
27-28

Technology solution Retail

Business

Decision making solutions in retail

business

29-30

Technology solution
Finance Markets

Decision making solutions in finance

markets

31-32

Technology solution Health

Care

Decision making solutions in health

care business

Case studies: Detailed Plan

Case
study
No

Case study Objective

Case study Sheet

Access URL

1
2

Evaluation Scheme
Evaluation
Component

Name
(Quiz, Lab, Project, Mid
term exam, End
semester exam, etc)

Type
(Open book,
Closed book,
Online, etc.)

Weight

Duration

Day, Date,
Session, Time

EC 1

Quiz 1, 2, 3

Online

15%

10 days

TBA

EC - 2

Mid-sem

Closed book

35%

TBA

EC - 3

Comprehensive

Open book

50%

TBA
TBA