Management Science/Operations Research: A Strategic Perspective
(in Simplified Chinese)

The chapters of Management Science/Operations Research: A Strategic Perspective are organized in four parts. The first part introduces a problem area and presents some basic management science concepts that have been successfully used to address the problem area. The objective of this material is to provide you, the manager of the future, with a general understanding of the tools and techniques used by the management science analyst.

The second part of each chapter is a series of short descriptions of organizations that have effectively used the tools described in the first part of the chapter. These readings are designed to demonstrate that the tools introduced in the chapter are not some obscure theory, but rather have been used, are being used, and will continue to be used by corporations and other organizations seeking to enhance profits or improve effectiveness or productivity.

To help you achieve an understanding of the basic concepts of management science, two sets of problems are included in each chapter. The first set of problems are small "exercises" that allow the concepts presented in the chapters to be practiced in simple but artificial situations. By working these exercises you can familiarize yourself with the basic ideas and models presented in the chapter.

The second set of problems are "cases" that describe real-world situations where the use of the concepts is more challenging and, usually, less definitive. Working these cases can provide an experience similar to that found "on-the-job": you may have to cope with ambiguity and extraneous or missing data. The emphasis in these cases is to derive a recommendation for sensible action: what should the decision maker do? How should the action be implemented?

Table of Contents

1. An Introduction to Strategic Management Science
2. Models and Model Building
3. Analyzing Sequential Decisions
4. Thinking Simultaneously
5. Simulating the Future
6. Management Science/Operations Research in Support of Management Decision Makers
7. Management Science/Operations Research as a Strategic Weapon