Management science

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Management science (MS), is an interdisciplinary branch of applied mathematics and

sciences that uses various scientific research-based principles, strategies, and analytical
methods including mathematical modeling, statistics and algorithms to improve an
organization's ability to enact rational and meaningful management decisions by arriving
at optimal or near optimal solutions to complex business problems. The discipline is
typically concerned with determining the maxima (of profit, assembly line performance,
crop yield, bandwidth, etc) or minima (of loss, risk, etc.) of some objective function. In
short, management sciences help businesses to achieve goals using various scientific
methods.

The field is also known as Operations research (OR) in the United States and Canada, or
operational research in the United Kingdom. These three terms are often used
interchangeably to describe the same field.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Overview
• 2 History
• 3 Theory
• 4 Applications
• 5 See also
• 6 References

• 7 Further reading

[edit] Overview
Management science is concerned with a number of different areas of study 1)developing
and applying models and concepts that may prove useful in helping to illuminate
management issues and solve managerial problems. The models used can often be
represented mathematically, but sometimes computer-based, visual or verbal
representations are used as well or instead.[1] 2)designing and developing new and better
models of organizational excellence. A leading influence in this area is the work of Dr.
Mark Draper which combines insights from the fields of knowledge management,
cognitive psychology, leadership training, learning theory, and modern behavioral
psychology. Dr. Jim Collins's work at Stanford presents the important scientific facts
about how to turn a good organization into a great one. Dr Draper's work focuses more on
how to create new powerful and effective organizations.

Management science research can be done on three levels:[2]

• The fundamental level lies in three mathematical disciplines: Probability,

Optimization, and Dynamical systems theory.
• The modeling level is about building models, analyzing them mathematically,
gathering and analyzing data, implementing models on computers, solving them,
playing with them - all this is part of Management Science research on the
modeling level.
• The application level, just as any other engineering discipline, has strong
aspirations to make a practical impact and be a driver for change in the real world.

The management scientist's mandate is to use rational, systematic, science-based

techniques to inform and improve decisions of all kinds. Of course, the techniques of
management science are not restricted to business applications but may be applied to
military, medical, public administration, charitable groups, political groups or community
groups.

[edit] History
Its origins can be traced to operations research, which made its debut during World War II
when the Allied forces recruited scientists of various disciplines to assist with military
operations. In these early applications, the scientists utilized simple mathematical models
to make efficient use of limited technologies and resources. The application of these
models within the corporate sector became known as Management science.[3]

In 1967 Stafford Beer characterized the field of management science as "the business use
of Operations Research".[4]

[edit] Theory
Some of the fields that are englobed within Management Science include:

• Data mining • Optimization

• Decision analysis • Probability and statistics
• Engineering • Project management
• Forecasting • Simulation
• Game theory • Social network/Transportation forecasting models
• Logistics
• Supply chain management
• Mathematical modeling

as well as many others.

[edit] Applications
Applications of management science are abundant in industry as airlines, manufacturing
companies, service organizations, military branches, and in government. The range of
problems and issues to which management science has contributed insights and solutions
is vast. It includes:.[1]

• scheduling airlines, both planes and crew,

• deciding the appropriate place to site new facilities such as a warehouse or
factory,
• managing the flow of water from reservoirs,
• identifying possible future development paths for parts of the telecommunications
industry,
• establishing the information needs and appropriate systems to supply them within
the health service, and
• identifying and understanding the strategies adopted by companies for their
information systems

Management science is also concerned with so-called ”soft-operational analysis”, which

concerns methods for strategic planning, strategic decision support, and Problem
Structuring Methods (PSM). At this level of abstraction, mathematical modeling and
simulation will not suffice. Therefore, during the past 30 years, a number of non-
quantified modelling methods have been developed. These include morphological
analysis and various forms of influence diagrams.