Top management support for management science

Two aspects of the relation between top managers and in-house management science units are considered in this paper. First, the impact of top management sponsorship and support on the progress and success of management science (MS) activities is considered. Secondly, the impact that an MS activity has had on the thinking and activities of top managers is discussed. The question of the role of the “professional” in an organization and the implications for client-professional perceptions of trust as these are influenced by the top manager are explored. Top management awareness and utilization of the management sciences are also reviewed.     

管理科学研究中的计算实验方法

随着实际管理问题复杂性的不断提高和社会经济系统的复杂性不断被人们所认识,关于管理科学研究方法论体系也在不断拓展.在不同学科交叉和融合的推动下,管理科学研究领域内的计算实验方法应运而生.它不仅提供了研究复杂管理系统自组织、动态演化及宏观与微观层次之间相互作用等问题的新的工具和手段,而且还可以和传统研究方法一起,在综合集成...     

Present positions and future prospects in management science

This paper offers some thoughts on the present state of management science as a discipline and a profession, and considers possible developmental strategies. The growth of management science, and the optimism this engendered, was largely premised on the successful use of scientific methodology and quantitative techniques to solve a relatively narrow range of management problems. In the 1970s, however, this positivist/quantitative ‘traditional management science’ became subject to increasing critical assault from those who wanted to broaden the impact of the discipline. Alternative management science approaches were born—soft systems thinking, organisational cybernetics, critical management science—and succeeded in establishing themselves. The existence of these alternative strands of work, alongside traditional management science, raises important questions about the future development of the discipline and profession. In this paper four developmental possibilities are set down and examined to see what future prospects they hold out for management science. It is argued that three of these—the isolationist, imperialist and pragmatist strategies—would lead the discipline into a dead end. A pluralist option, however, offers excellent opportunities for successful, future development.     

Cybernetics and the management science process

This paper addresses methodological issues currently confronting the management science community. The urgency of these issues is evidenced by [1] the growing debate over the implementability of MS/OR (Management Science/Operational Research) models, [2] the absence of professional agreement on a ‘generalized’ theory of organizational structure and control and [3] the dearth of substantive contributions in the area of ‘policy’ analysis and modeling. It is argued that any resolution of these issues must address the management science process and that developments in cybernetics provide an integrating framework for this purpose. Aspects of this framework are presented by pointing out distinctions between the more traditional MS/OR approaches and the proposed cybernetic approach. Some of the concepts involved are not always associated with cybernetics, but the implications for the practice of management science are significant.     

The implementation of management science in higher education administration

Literature surveys during the 1970s found that many more management science models had been developed for higher education administration than had actually been implemented. This paper uses a survey of 146 recent articles to assess the current state of implementation in that area. The percentage of articles reported to have been implemented is presented for each administrative level, from departmental administration up to the federal level. Purposes for which the models were designed and the management science techniques used are also discussed as they relate to the record of successful implementation. The results are both surprising and informative. For example, although the largest number of models have been developed foruse at the presidential or vice presidential level of an institution, the highest percentage of successful implementations have occurred at the departmental administration level. There have been very few implementations at the state or federal levels. While scheduling was the one purpose for which the fewest number of models were developed, those models also had the highest rate of implementation. The most commonly used technique was mathematical programming, but it also had an extremely low percentage of ongoing implementations. The results indicate areas that need further work while also pinpointing areas that have probably been modelled too much.     

The influence of measurement in the development of management science

The paper traces the growth of Management Sciences and focuses on the differences in emphasis which several schools of thought have given to situational factors and their influence on the management function. Tracking shifts in the orientation of this emphasis leads to certain conclusions about the future.     

SCI、SSCI与管理科学期刊

本文试图回答国内管理科学界困惑的几个问题: SCI是否收录管理科学方面的期刊? SCI和SSCI收录了哪些管理科学方面的期刊? 管理科学期刊的评估有哪些常见的方法? 用引文率来评价学术期刊是否好? SCI的主要缺点有哪些? 中国学者在国际重要期刊上发表论文可能会遇到哪些困难以及可能采取那些对策? 本刊最后附录1, 附录2 中给出了1998年SCI和1997年SSCI收录的与管理科学相关的部分期刊排名表.     

A bibliometric analysis of operations research and management science

Bibliometric analysis is the quantitative study of bibliographic material. It provides a general picture of a research field that can be classified by papers, authors and journals. This paper presents a bibliometric overview of research published in operations research and management science in recent decades. The main objective of this study is to identify some of the most relevant research in this field and some of the newest trends according to the information found in the Web of Science database. Several classifications are made, including an analysis of the most influential journals, the two hundred most cited papers of all time and the most productive and influential authors. The results obtained are in accordance with the common wisdom, although some variations are found.     

Energy modelling: A new challenge for management science

The Arab oil embargo in 1973 and the subsequent price rises and production restrictions have given birth to a distinct branch within Management Science: energy modelling. This paper gives a critical and selective review on energy modelling, an industry which though thriving in an era of general economic anxiety, is showing signs of arrogant immaturity. After giving a historical background, the paper classifies energy models into three groups: open loop demand or supply models; energy closed loop models; energy-economy closed loop models. For each group the problem area is analysed and some illustrative examples are described. In the last sections, an attempt is made to sum up the experience that has been gained with energy modelling: the basic deficiencies, the impact of this activity on policy formulation and its position within Management Science. It is concluded that energy models, though very poor forecasting devices, can be very useful to policy makers as tools for analysis; energy model developers must convince potential model users and for that purpose they can benefit immensely from the 35-year-long experience accumulated by their colleagues in Management Science.     

An application of catastrophe theory to management science process

Practicing management scientists often complain of the alleged irrational behavior on the part of the managers they are trying to serve, particularly when a manager suddenly and unexpectedly shifts behavior from one of support to one of resistance. The authors feel such behavior is only believed to be irrational because the management scientist is using the wrong mental model when projecting past behavioral patterns into the future. This paper attempts to solve this problem by using the newly developed catastrophe theory to develop a different model where sudden shifts in behavior are considered perfectly rational and explainable. The basic implication that is drawn from this new model is that successful implementation of management science depends on a sequence of interactions with the ultimate model user and that care in the structuring of these interactions can greatly enhance the probability of eventual user acceptance.     

A management science application in the courtroom: A jury selection model

This paper reports the results of a study involving the application of management science techniques to the area of jury research. A public opinion survey was conducted, entered in evidence in a motion for change of venue, and the survey data used to develop a jury selection model used by the defense in a second-degree murder trial. The case had involved considerable pre-trial publicity. From a defense perspective, the defendant received the least undesirable guilty verdict. Management science techniques employed involved statistical sampling, linear discriminant function, and regression analysis. Suggestions for other applications in jury research are offered.     

A supportive application of management science to marketing strategy formulation

Traditional applications of management science aiming at solving specific decision-making problems are claimed to be often of an aggressive nature. They represent an intrusion into the life space of the managers who are supposed to use them and in many cases are consequently rejected. In the light of the evolution of marketing and corporate modelling over the last twenty years, the authors propose a new supportive approach for management science applications which is user-oriented rather than task-oriented. The characteristics of the aggressive and supportive approaches are contrasted, and an example of a supportive management science application for marketing strategy formulation is described.     

预测困难与预测发展

"凡事预则立,不预则废"这充分说明预测在决策中的重要性,但由于社会、经济系统的复杂性、不确定性,预测有时是困难的,基于此点,人们不断探索新的预测方法。神经网络预测正是近年来发展起来的一种新的预测方法,本文详细探讨了预测困难后,讨论了神经网络预测的优点与不足,并对预测发展提出了自己的思路。