"Operations Research" for Management.

OPERATIONS research; MANAGEMENT science; MATHEMATICAL models of decision making; MANAGEMENT simulation methods; MANAGERIAL economics; DECISION theory; PROBABILITY theory; PREDICTION models; SCIENTIFIC method; MATHEMATICAL optimization; BUSINESS research

The article discusses the concept of operations research, an economic process that analyzes the combination of equipment, employee morale, and output by using "the scientific method." The four basic concepts are: the research model, or theory of operation, which can be an exact or probabilistic model; the effectiveness measure, which might be based on investment returns or net dollar profit; the need for making a decision; and the role of experimentation in getting and validating information. Examples show how the scientific approach has been applied to business problems in accounting, engineering, and marketing research.