Optimization software pitfalls: Raising awareness in the classroom

Very little can be found in the OR/MS literature on the pitfalls of optimization software. This paper addresses the issue of how to help undergraduate business students handle some of the problems they might encounter when using optimization software. An overview of the teaching approach employed successfully by the author at Babson College is presented. This approach uses the standard Microsoft Excel Solver as an example combining in-class lectures and innovative on-line tutorials on the use of Solver as an optimization tool and as a more powerful Goal Seek.