Operations Research Management Science - Innovative Education

<BODY bgcolor="#ffffff" link="cc0000" vlink="cc0000" text="#000000"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br>   <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=480><tr valign=top> <td width=10><img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 hspace=4 border=0></td> <td width=470> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B><I><A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top">OR/MS Today</A> - August 2003</I></B></font><BR> <hr size="1"> <img src="cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <font face="times new roman, times"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>Innovative Education</B></FONT><br> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <FONT SIZE="+2"><B>Petition Makes the Case</B></FONT><BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>By Kalyan Singhal</B></FONT><br> <hr size="1"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=12 border=0><br>    This article is based on excerpts from a petition submitted to AACSB International asking them to include management science and statistical data analysis more explicitly in their standards for business education than what they had since 1991. <P>Before drafting the petition, we understood that some business schools did not require management science because many business school professors and deans were not fully aware of the impact management science has been making on organizations. Since AACSB found our petition persuasive (see the <A HREF="../orms-6-03/frlastword.html" TARGET="_top">June issue of <I>OR/MS Today,</I> page 72</A>), I hope that INFORMS members find the contents of this article useful as business schools implement the new standards. <P>While the new standards do require coverage of management science and statistical data analysis, they do not require any specific course. Since programs will have to cover the normally accepted body of knowledge in each area, it is reasonable to assume that management science will require at least one full-term course and statistical data analysis will require another. The details regarding the number of courses are likely to be the main issue as business schools implement the new standards. <P><B><I>Relevance and rigor.</I></B> In order to sustain a career in business for many years, a business graduate needs an understanding of the analytic foundations and tools that are important for managerial decision-making. The applications of management science and its technologies cover all areas of business: accounting, economics, finance, human resources, information systems, marketing, operations, organization design, strategic planning and more. Many applications are interdisciplinary and cut across the boundaries of these areas. These technologies are essential for analyzing complexities of organizational processes and inter-organizational relationships. They also serve as an effective mechanism for integrating both decision-making processes and organizational processes. <P><B><I>A major driver of the economy.</I></B> Management science techniques are a major driver of operations, supply chains and e-commerce  and thus of the economy itself. The explosive growth of applications of information technology itself is being driven by these technologies (e.g., decision analysis, scenario generation, simulation, optimization, and so forth). <P><B><I>Impact of management science and documented savings.</I></B> The current annual market for management science software is measured in tens of billions of dollars. The documented savings from applications of decision technologies total hundreds of billions of dollars, and this is only the tip of the iceberg since most successful applications are not publicly reported. Further, some of the most prized contributions of decision technologies are strategic benefits and insights. Many important applications would become essentially incomprehensible to MBA graduates unless they receive a proper analytic foundation as a core part of their education. <P><B><I>Easy to use and apply.</I></B> Information technology has made it easier to use management science. Twenty years ago, only large corporations could afford management science technologies; now any medium or small business can afford them. A major application that would require specialists to design customized software and cost $500,000 in 1980 can now be implemented by a generalist, say an analytically trained MBA, at very little cost by using the existing information technology infrastructure in the company. <P><B><I>Easy to teach.</I></B> Information technology and educational innovations from within the management science community have made it much easier to teach management science effectively. The basic technologies of decision analysis, optimization and Monte Carlo simulation are now available either as built-in components of Microsoft Excel (the Excel Solver) or as Excel add-ins. Further, many professors have developed greatly improved strategies for teaching MBA students, emphasizing modeling and all but eliminating details of algorithms. Several excellent textbooks highlight this software and contain many real or realistic examples.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=2 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><I><B>Kalyan Singhal</B> is a professor at the Merrick School of Business, University of Baltimore. Singhal organized a petition signed by business school deans and professors, senior executives and Nobel Laureates to have management science and statistical data analysis included explicitly in the new AACSB standards. </i></font><BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=2 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>Return to main story:</B> <A HREF="fraction.html" TARGET="_top">Course of Action</A></font> <BR>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=5 border=0><br>  <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1"> <CENTER><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></CENTER><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <LI> <A HREF="tocfr.html" Target="_top"><I>Table of Contents</A><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <LI> <A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top"><I>OR/MS Today</I> Home Page</A><br>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <b><i>OR/MS Today</i></b> copyright © 2003 by <A HREF="http://www.informs.org/" target="_new">the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences</a>. 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