Management Science

Management science (MS) is the broad interdisciplinary study of problem solving and decision making in human organizations, with strong links to management, economics, business, engineering, consulting, and other fields. It uses various scientific research-based principles, strategies, and analytical methods mathematical modeling, statistics, and numerical algorithms to improve an organization's ability to enact rational and accurate management decisions by arriving at optimal or near optimal solutions to complex decision problems. Management science helps businesses to achieve goals using various scientific methods.

The field was initially was outgrowth from applied mathematics, where early challenges were problems relating to optomization of systems which could be modeled linearly, i.e., that is determining the optima (maximum value of profit, assembly line performance, crop yield, bandwidth, etc., or minimum of loss, risk, or costs, etc.) of some objective function. Today, management science encompasses any organizational activity for which a problem is structured in mathematical form to generate managerially relevant insights.

Management scuence is concerned with a number of areas of study:

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.
Designing and developing new and better models of organizational excellence.

Management science research can be done on three levels:

The fundamental level lies in three mathematical disciplines: probability, optomization, and dynamical systems theory.
The modeling level is about building levels, analyzing them mathematically, gathering and analyzing data, implementing models on computers, solving them, experimenying with them--all this is part of management science research on the modeling level. This level is mainly instrumental, and driven mainly by statistics and econometrics.
The application level, just as in any other engineering and economic disciplines, strives 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. 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.

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