讲座题目：Optimal Intraproject Learning

报告人：赵文辉，上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院教授

摘要：Motivated by a project management problem faced by the Consumer Business Group of Huawei Corporation, we study the application and optimization of intraproject learning. Under intraproject learning, information gained from completing some tasks in a project is used to complete similar later tasks in the same project more efficiently. This is possible when, for example, the difficulty of the tasks becomes better understood, or the efficiency of the resources used becomes better known. While the project management literature suggests the potential value of using this information within the same project, our work is apparently the first to model and optimize intraproject learning. Since lessons learned consume time, companies may underinvest in intraproject learning. To address this issue, we model the tradeoff between investing time in learning from completed tasks and achieving reduced durations for subsequent tasks, to minimize total project cost. We show that this problem is highly intractable. We develop a heuristic that finds near optimal solutions, and a strong relaxation that allows some learning from partially completed tasks. For the project at Huawei Corporation, our model and algorithm provide a greater than 20% improvement in project duration. More generally, our procedure finds learning solutions that enable reductions in project duration averaging 7% for projects with 40 tasks and 22% for those with 200 tasks. Our sensitivity analysis results identify project characteristics where intraproject learning is most worthwhile. In doing so, they motivate project managers to understand and apply intraproject learning to improve the performance of their ongoing projects.

报告时间：2020年12月2日（周三）下午14:00

报告地点：威斯尼斯人（沙河校区）4号楼320

主持人：刘志东教授，威斯尼斯人管理科学与工程学院院长

主办单位：威斯尼斯人管理科学与工程学院

报告人简介：赵文辉教授，美国俄亥俄州立大学运筹学博士、土木工程硕士；清华大学土木工程硕士、土木和计算机双学士。2010.8加入上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院、2012.8晋升副教授、2018.8晋升终身职副教授、2018.12月晋升终身职教授。中国管理科学与工程学会供应链与运营管理分会首届副会长、学术委员会主席；中国运筹学会随机运筹分会常务理事。研究兴趣包括供应链金融、风险管理、医疗服务管理等，成果发表于Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Mathematical Programming等国际运营、数学期刊。研究成果被Manufacturing & Service Operations Management等期刊论文进行了实证检验，检验结果与理论预言吻合良好。2015年指导了世界500强制造企业供应链金融项目，项目实施前三年和后三年企业净利润、营运资金周转率等指标变化显著。

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