Term Project: Teams consisting of two or three students will be required to work on one of the two term projects specified below.

In addition to a written report, each team will be required to make a brief presentation to the class to discuss key issues and results. 

Term Project A: Identify a cost reduction or performance improvement opportunity in a real business (large or small) or in any organization to apply one of the techniques discussed in the course.  Collect real data and be ready to defend your assumptions about the data (if any).  The data collected by each team must include a complete description of the current environment including current costs or any other performance measures.  Formulate the model and develop a solution.  Prepare am implantation plan and try to get feedback from the selected organization about your plan.  Submit a formal report (no minimum or maximum limit) to show what was done.  The main body of the report should be concise and it should emphasize the key issues shown above.  Use appendices to show your data and alternative scenario details.  When delivering the PowerPoint presentation, make sure that you do not put too much material on one slide otherwise we will not be able to read it. Emphasize how you identified the opportunity, how you collected the data, and what are the major benefits of using the term project.

Term Project B:  Build a model which gives you buy or sell signals for stocks or indices based on historical closing prices.  Start by first researching some of the widely known and commonly used models (MACD and MA buy and sell signals) by investors or traders.  Prepare a five to six page summary of your research.  State the model to be built by your team by clearly spelling out the buy and the sell signals.  Select three different stocks or indices (one which has increased significantly, another which has decreased significantly, and the third which has stayed almost same over the last 10 years).  Download 10 years of data for each of the three selected stocks or indices.  Use your buy and sell signals to keep track of the value of your original hypothetical investment of $100,000.  (You can ignore transaction costs but make sure that you have a delay built in your model so that you do not keep changing directions every day).

Compare your results to a simple buy & hold strategy and with one of the popular models identified in your research.  Develop an implementation plan for an investor or financial firm to use your model.   Prepare a final report and power presentation as specified at the end of term project A.

For each term project, eleven (11) different scores are given: the first score is based on the ability to define the business context (DSC LO1A); the second score is based on the significance of the identified  opportunity (DSC LO1B);  the third score in based on the quality of the data collected (DSC LO1C); the fourth score is based on the ability to analyze data (DSC LO1D); the fifth score is based on the clarity of problem definition and issues (DSC LO2A); the sixth score is based on the quality of industry research (DSC LO2B); the seventh score is based on the accuracy of the mathematical formulation (DSC LO2C); the eighth score is based on the selection of the correct decision making tool (DSC LO2D); the ninth score is based on the ability to identify and evaluate alternatives (DSC LO3A); the tenth score is based on the effectiveness of the recommended solution and sensitivity analysis (DSC LO3B); and the eleventh score is based on the understanding of the implication of the proposed solution and the feasibility of implementation (DSC LO3C).

Although not specifically required, this project may be utilized by students in building a portfolio which can be of great value in enhancing their career.