COM 3372
Management Science
2025
Introduction
Vilani Sachitra (PhD)
Department of Commerce
Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Email: vilani@sjp.ac.lk
1
Session goals..
• Identify what is management science (or Operations research)
• Identify evolution of MS
• Identify MS applications
• Identify how implementing MS in practice
Read Chapter 1 in the recommended textbook
2
Introduction
• Operations Research (OR) or Management Science (MS) were initiated in
England during World War II.
• A team of British scientists set out to assess the best utilization of war materiel
based on scientific principles rather than on ad hoc rules.
• MS is applied to problems that concern how to conduct and coordinate the
operations / management (activities) within an organization.
• The research / science part of the name means that MS uses an approach
that resembles the way research is conducted in established scientific fields.
• MS is the application of the methods and techniques of science to the
problem of management decision making.
Management Science
• The basic terminology of MS (OR), including mathematical modeling, feasible
solutions, optimization, and iterative algorithmic computations.
• Mathematical modeling is a cornerstone of MS (OR).
• When we look at the problem, it requires to answer three questions:
1. What are the decision alternatives?
2. Under what restrictions is the decision made?
3. What is an appropriate objective criterion for evaluating the alternatives?
• Three main components of MS:
Alternatives
Objective criterion
Constraints
• Thus, MS model includes:
Objective function, Constraints,
Example:
A businessperson has a 5-week commitment traveling between destination A
and B. Weekly departure from A occurs on Mondays for return on
Wednesdays. A regular round trip ticket costs Rs.400, but a 20% discount is
granted if the round trip dates span a weekend. A one-way ticket in either
direction costs 75% of the regular price.
How should the tickets be bought for the 5-week period?
• Three main components of MS:
• Alternatives
• Objective criterion
• Constraints
5
Look at the alternatives:
1. Buy five regular A-B-A for departure on Monday and return on Wednesday of the same
week.
2. Buy one A-B, four A-B-A that span weekends, and one B-A.
3. Buy one A-B-A to cover Monday of the first week and Wednesday of the last week and four
B-A-B to cover the remaining legs.
Evaluating the proposed alternatives is the price of the tickets
Alternative 1 cost = 5 * Rs.400 = Rs.2000
Alternative 2 cost = .75 * Rs.400 + 4 (0.8 * Rs.400) + .75 * Rs.400 = Rs.1880
Alternative 3 cost = 5 (0.8 * Rs.400) = Rs.1600
Alternative 3 is the cheapest.
Note:
The number of alternatives is finite
The number of alternatives is infinite
6
Management Science Model can be organized as
• Art of Model Development
MS models are designed to optimize a specific objective criterion subject to a set of constraints
Management Science
• MS model designs to find solutions:
• Feasible solution: A solution is feasible if it satisfies all the constraints.
• Optimal solution: It is optimal if, in addition to being feasible, it yields the best (maximum or
minimum) value of the objective function.
• How to find solution?
Use MS techniques
• Linear programming (designed for models with linear objective and constraint functions.
• Integer programming (in which the variables assume integer values)
• Dynamic programming (in which the original model can be decomposed into smaller more
manageable sub problems)
• Network programming (in which the problem can be modeled as a network)
• Nonlinear programming (in which functions of the model are nonlinear).
Management Science
• As a decision-making tool, MS is both a science and an art.
• It is a science by virtue of the mathematical techniques it embodies;
• It is art because the success of the phases leading to the solution of the mathematical
model depends largely on the creativity and experience of the teams of the organisation.
Phases for implementing MS in practice:
• Definition of the problem.
• Construction of the model.
• Solution of the model.
• Validation of the model.
• Implementation of the solution.
Therefore, MS is not only rooted in mathematical analysis. Though mathematical
modeling is a cornerstone of MS practices include five phases.
Look at this example:
In response to complaints of slow elevator service in a large office building, the OR team
initially perceived the situation as a waiting-line problem that might require the use of
mathematical queuing analysis or simulation. After studying the behavior of the people
voicing the complaint, the psychologist on the team suggested installing full-length mirrors at
the entrance to the elevators. The complaints disappeared, as people were kept occupied
watching themselves and others while waiting for the elevator.
Specific Notes:
• Should explore the possibility of using “different” ideas to resolve the situation.
• Before jumping to the use of sophisticated mathematical modeling, a bird’s eye view of the
situation should be adopted to uncover possible nontechnical reasons that led to the
problem in the first place.
• It is thus imperative to analyze available data, using the simplest possible technique, to
understand the essence of the problem.
• Solutions are rooted in people and not in technology. Any solution that does not take
human behavior into consideration is apt to fail.
10
Group Activity 1:
You are required to refer to article 1 (Operational research methods and applications) uploaded to the
LMS, read INTRODUCTION section and make a presentation on the following question.
Question:
How has the field of operational research evolved over the past years and how has the practical
application of operations research changed over time?
You can use a creative topic of your choice for the presentation.
Eg: Unveiling the transmutations of operational research: A symphonic shift in its practical
application
Submission deadline: 02nd March 2025
Allocated Marks: 10 Marks
