Management science is a broad, interdisciplinary study of decision making and problem solution within an organisation. The interdisciplinary study has strong ties to economics, engineering, management, business administration and other fields.
Management science is a broad, interdisciplinary study of decision making and problem solution within an organisation. The interdisciplinary study has strong ties to economics, engineering, management, business administration and other fields.
Various scientific principles such as mathematical models, algorithms, and statistics are implemented. The objective is to increase and better a company’s capital and to take more precise and rational decisions. Management science helps organisations reach their goals using scientific principles and methods.
Management science can be defined as a problem-solving process used by an interdisciplinary team to develop models that represent simple and complex functional relationships and provide management guidance for decision-making.
The founder of management science is Frederick Taylor. He is known as the father of scientific management. Taylor developed four management principles; research, standardisation, monitoring, and co-working. He is also the founder of the rational goal model.
Examples of other pioneers when it comes to scientific management are Carl Barth, Gantt, and Hathaway. Gantt contributed to the acknowledgement of work psychology, bonus plans, and the use of charts in production planning. Later, these all birthed the term industrial engineering.
In the years after the second world war, management science was more commonly known as operations research.
The analysis of business and decision-making processes helps organisations identify problems. Additionally, a management science approach helps assist in the following core areas within a company:
Management science is applied in planning because it predicts the results of certain processes. This approach makes it easier to understand future needs, instead of waiting for developments.
Management sciences make it easier to create systems that work efficiently and focus on specific tasks.
Additionally, this also makes it easier to assign resources to the right place.
Because this scientific approach focuses on management, it can boost the way the organisation is run.
It helps individual managers focus on the key elements of leadership and improve their decision-making skills.
This science has a number of advantages that have led various industries to use it in improving both operational and managerial efficiency. Industries in which this approach is applied are medical and political industries, as well as business and public administration.
The aviation industry has used the approach to develop planning processes for airlines. These systems are indispensable to ensure that the aircraft are used efficiently and that the crew is deployed in the most efficient way. Various information systems from the business world are also the result of scientific management.
