Find an article in Finance that explicitly used Linear Programming, aka Optimization, (Solver, SAS, SPSS, Lingo, or any other such tool) as part of its analysis.

The article should address a specific business problem and use Linear Programming to solve it. A generic article does not qualify - nor does an article that explains, teaches, or provides examples of Linear Programming.

Provide the URL to the article as a citation (not to any file you downloaded; other people must be able to easily access your source to do Part 2).

Explain the business purpose of the model and identify the three primary components (DVs, Objective Function, and Constraints) in summary form. These should be descriptions, not the mathematical formulas. For this assignment, your audience consists of business people, not analysts or mathematicians. Your readers also understand what Linear Programming is - do not take any time to explain it.

Describe the benefits the company / author gained as a result of using Linear Programming on this business problem. Explain what you've learned from this article about Linear Programming that you can apply to your career - some insight, awareness, or benefit that you weren't fully aware of prior to doing this research.

Use the following outline for your submission: Introduction Decision Variables (summarize each one)

Objective Function (explanation)

Constraints (summarized list)

Benefits (to the company / community)

Lessons Learned (personally / professionally)

Do not do these Do not select an article that only talks about, explains, teaches, or provides examples of Linear Programming. The article must USE linear programming on actual data in the analysis of a business problem. If it USES LP and has a little explanation, that's fine. If you are uncertain whether your article is appropriate for this assignment, email me the link for an assessment.

Do not try to duplicate the solution itself in Excel; that is not the purpose of this assignment.

Do not take time explaining what Linear Programming is; you can assume that your reader has that understanding. Do not introduce yourself - work history, interests, years at UM, major, ....

Do not detail a company, products, or people - although that is interesting. Since this is a statistics course, focus your work on the application of Linear Programming to their business problem or opportunity.

Search Tips Use "Linear Programming" as a term Use either "case study", "actual data", or "real life" as another term Use your major or interest (company, industry, geography) as another search term

Note that many articles do not present the entire model or all of the data; they merely discuss it in general terms. Therefore you must read the article closely to extract as much as possible. If the authors provide too little information about the technique, either try to find a different article or clearly mention this weakness in your post (such an omission is an ethical issue since readers cannot fully grasp or validate the claim being made).