Seward, Lori Elizabeth

Research

research overview

Dr. Seward’s academic focus is on statistics and operations management education at both the undergraduate and graduate level. She works with other faculty to develop pedagogy consistent with current experiential methods and investigates the use of technology in the classroom - from small lecture to large lecture. Dr. Seward has recently converted her graduate statistics course to a hybrid delivery.

keywords

use of statistics in business, statistics textbook, statistics faculty and current teaching methods, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, Process Design and Improvement, hybrid course design and delivery

Publications

selected publications

book
journal article
- Gender and Age Patterns in NSGA Swim Competitions. Journal of Aging Research. 2022
- Measuring Skewness: A Forgotten Statistic?. Journal of Statistics Education. 2011
- Availability analysis for multitask production systems. Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal. 91-110. 2004

Teaching

courses taught

BASE 2101 - BCOR Applied Semester Experience 1: Early Stage
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018
Builds on material covered in BCOR 2001, BCOR 2002 and BCOR 2003. Provides students the opportunity to apply tools from the functional business disciplines. Business problems, solutions and decisions are addressed in the context of an early stage business. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
BASE 2102 - BCOR Applied Semester Experience 2: Growth Stage
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018
Builds on material covered in BCOR 2001, BCOR 2002 and BCOR 2003. Provides students the opportunity to apply tools from the functional business disciplines. Business problems, solutions and decisions are addressed in the context of a growth stage business. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
BASE 2103 - BCOR Applied Semester Experience 3: Mature Stage
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018
Builds on material covered in BCOR 2001, BCOR 2002 and BCOR 2003. Provides students the opportunity to apply tools from the functional business disciplines. Business problems, solutions and decisions are addressed in the context of a mature stage business. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
BASE 2104 - BCOR Applied Semester Experience
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018
Focuses on major business decisions integrating across business functional areas. Students complete multiple business projects drawing on knowledge and tools from previous BCOR courses.
BCOR 2206 - Principles of Operations Management
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Spring 2019 / Fall 2020
Introduces the student to the common activities performed by an operations manager and sets the stage for the student to operate as a member of a cross-functional team responsible for adding value for the customer. These common activities include planning and designing goods and services, sourcing materials and supplies, producing the goods and delivering the services, and dealing with product end-of-life requirements. Credit not granted for this course and BCOR 2500, BASE 2101.

EMEN 4120 - Managing Business Processes
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021
Covers the concepts and tools to design and manage business processes. Emphasizes modeling an analysis, information technology support for process activities, and management of process flows. Graphical simulation software is used to create dynamic models of business processes and predict the effect of changes. Prepares students for a strong management or consulting career path in business processes. Same as MGMT 4120 and MGMT 5120.

MBAC 6030 - Quantitative Methods
Primary Instructor - Summer 2018 / Summer 2021 / Summer 2022
Covers foundations for statistical reasoning and statistical applications in business. Topics include graduate-level treatment of descriptive statistics,probability, probability distributions, sampling theory and sampling distributions, and statistical inference (estimation and hypothesis testing). Provides an introduction to regression analysis, analysis of variance, time series forecasting, decision analysis, index numbers, and nonparametric methods.

MBAC 6031 - Quantitative Methods 1
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Summer 2019 / Summer 2023 / Summer 2024
Covers foundations for statistical reasoning and statistical applications in business. Topics include data collection, descriptive stats and data visualization, probability, discrete probability distributions, continuous probability distributions, sampling distributions and estimation.

MBAC 6032 - Quantitative Methods 2
Primary Instructor - Summer 2021 / Summer 2022 / Summer 2023 / Summer 2024
Second in a series of two courses covering foundations for statistical reasoning and statistical applications in business. Topics include hypothesis testing, one and two sample hypothesis tests, single regression analysis, multiple regression analysis.

MBAC 6052 - Capstone Projects
Primary Instructor - Spring 2019
Provides students with an opportunity to focus on a specific project which would have a positive strategic impact on the company for which they work. For those who have entrepreneurial aspirations, this project could result in a business plan for a new venture. Final deliverable should address marketing, financial, operational, and management implications and strategic impact.

MBAE 6081 - Data and Uncertainty
Primary Instructor - Fall 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Explores fundamental techniques for analyzing data found in the business environment, concentrating on practical, hands-on experience using and communicating your findings in a concise manner. Course focuses on inference and regression analysis. We will rely on software to calculate the numerical results, but the interpretation will come from you and your team or partners. These tools prepare you for your work specifically in economics, finance, and marketing, specifically, and in all business aspects, generally.

MBAX 6801 - Global Perspectives Seminar
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Spring 2019 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2022
Provides students with an in-depth perspective about a specific country or region outside the United States. The course can focus on a different region or country each time it is offered. If demand for this type of experience is strong, multiple sections of the course could be offered in a given semester. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.

MBAX 6806 - Global Perspectives
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Spring 2019 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2022
Contrasting operations in US and a country or region outside the United States, students will study what changes US companies have made to successfully operate in foreign markets and how US companies have influenced foreign business operations. Reviews the history and present state of the inter-dependency between the domestic and international business environments. Culminates in a week-long trip to the country/region of study. Provides students with an in-depth perspective about a specific country or region outside the United States. The course can focus on a different region or country each time it is offered. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.

MGMT 3100 - Operations Management
Primary Instructor - Fall 2022 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Examines concepts, tools and techniques used in the management of service operations. Focuses on how firms add value and compete with high quality and efficient services. Emphasizes the use of models for designing new products services and improving the effectiveness of service processes. Studies the application of technology in the context of productivity, growth and the globalization of manufacturing and services.

MGMT 4120 - Managing Business Processes
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021
Covers the concepts and tools to design and manage business processes. Emphasizes modeling an analysis, information technology support for process activities, and management of process flows. Graphical simulation software is used to create dynamic models of business processes and predict the effect of changes. Prepares students for a strong management or consulting career path in business processes. Same as EMEN 4120 and MGMT 5120.

MGMT 4820 - Decision Analytics
Primary Instructor - Spring 2019 / Fall 2019
This course prepares students to thrive in analytics-driven organizations. Students will explore the capabilities and challenges of data-driven business decision making. The course will introduce a set of common analytics tools. Students will have opportunities to apply the analytics tools to business problems based on practical data sets from various companies. Excel spreadsheet and several other software packages will be used extensively in the course. The class will be conducted with a combination of lectures, case discussions, lab sessions, and student presentations. Grading will be based on several problem sets, exams, case reports, and a final project. Same as MGMT 5820.

MSBC 5490 - BUAN Experiential Projects
Primary Instructor - Summer 2022
Provides an opportunity to execute a project for a company, integrating course work knowledge in an applied capstone experience. Allows first hand exposure to the business analytics as both an observer and creator of the business analytics process. Students work closely with an area client company to solve an important business analytics problem under the close supervision of the instructor.

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