Knowledge that Transforms

Management Science is not unique to any particular country or set of countries. It is comprised of processes, techniques and tools that are potentially applicable to problems found in a wide range of social and economic systems. The scope and style of management science practices vary from country to country. In Canada the community of Operational Research/Management Science (OR/MS) practitioners has grown to approximately 1200, according to the membership lists of professional societies. The time has come to take stock. It is with this goal in mind that we accepted the challenge of editing and contributing to Management Science in Canada.

A MAJOR SNOWSTORM IN FEBRUARY 1969 PRODUCED A SERIOUS SNOW EMERGENCY IN NEW YORK CITY. THE MAYOR'S SYSTEMS ANALYSIS UNIT, AFTER A STUDY OF THE DATA ON SNOWFALLS AND THE WORK ACTIVITY DICTATED IN RESPONSE TO SNOW, CONFIRMED THAT A COMPREHENSIVE SNOW PLAN IS NECESSARY, FOR IT WILL BE EXERCISED ABOUT A DOZEN TIMES A YEAR EVEN THOUGH INCAPACITATING STORMS ARE QUITE RARE. A NEW HIGH-PRIORITY NETWORK WAS DESIGNED, REPRESENTING 1,600 LINEAR MILES, OR 33% OF THE CITY'S TOTAL PLOW MILES. AN ANALYSIS OF WORK LOADS AND EQUIPMENT CAPABILITY SHOWED THAT THE SOLUTION WAS TO BE FOUND IN THE GEOGRAPHIC DEPLOYMENT OF EQUIPMENT AND THE RATE OF MOBILIZATION OF MANPOWER TO MAN THE EQUIPMENT. IN THE ENSUING FOUR YEARS ONLY ONE STORM REPRESENTED ANY SORT OF PRACTICAL TEST OF THE SYSTEM, AN 8 STORM ON A HOLIDAY, JANUARY 1,1971. EVERYTHING WENT SMOOTHLY AND THE CITY WAS CLEANED UP WITHIN A FEW HOURS, WITH CREDIT PROPERLY GOING TO THE MAYOR, THE DEPARTMENT OF SANITATION, AND THE NEW PLAN.

We interviewed 65 senior executives in 42 organizations and asked them about their use of computers in decision making and found that: 1. In the 42 organizations studied, none had a functioning, fully integrated Corporate Decision-Information System. 2. With the exception of budget preparation, little use is being made of the computer for strategic planning purposes in Canada. 3. The computer appears to be used mostly to help lower and middle levels of management but has not found much use in the mahogany-panelled offices in the executive suite.

In this paper the authors present an interpretive discussion of the scope for management scientists to make a more effective contribution to improving the performance of the Canadian economy, by active involvement in management and decision making in Canadian institutions, both private and public. Initially the paper surveys the evidence on the differences in economic performance between Canada and the United States, outlining the methods used, and the results. Some factors turn out to be relatively unimportant in the differences, while others are quite crucial. In the broad area of manufacturing, the gap in economic performance is particularly wide. Tariffs in Canada and other countries have become important contributions to the existing product diversity, short production runs, high cost and low productivity in relation to performance in other countries. A further important area is the pattern of decision making in Canada which has led to a survival strategy and resistance to change rather than innovation, creativity and risk taking. This tends to perpetuate the lower levels of productivity found to exist. In the light of this analysis of economic factors and decision making, the paper makes some broad recommendations on the role of management scientists, the need for change in management style, and changes in tariffs that would accelerate change and would recognize the importance of interdependence for more efficient performance. The paper concludes on the theme “The Time is Now!”

This paper describes the development, testing, validation and application of a computer simulation model. The model is designed to determine the economic potential of a specified offshore stern fishing trawler. The basic structure of the model consists of four sections: (1) Skipper section-this is the decision-maker in the model; (2) Vessel section—the vessel with its crew carry out the actions decided on by the skipper. (3) Environment section—distributions are specified here for catch rates and weather conditions, varying over time. (4) Operational section—this section contains the overall time-keeping function, financial accounting routines, data banks, and so on. Validation was carried out by specifying to the program particulars of actual vessels for which operational data existed, and then comparing the model results with the actual recorded results. The model was applied to identifying, from among a range of vessel designs, those that ranked highest according to various specified economic criteria.

This paper compares DSS with other simulation models and modelling approaches of the past with respect to its weaknesses and strengths, as well as its novel and specialized characteristics. The importance of the “question-and-answer” superstructure of DSS is discussed. The need for regularly updating the parameters of inventory-distribution systems is noted. The serious limitations of DSS are brought into focus and reference is made to those situations which cannot be easily handled by simulation models like DSS, in general. For the benefit of the practitioners, this paper describes how and by whom DSS can be used with facility. Finally, the overall effectiveness of DSS in improving management objectives is questioned.

This paper considers the use of subsidies or tax credits for the purpose of increasing the utilization of underemployed or underutilized resources. The particular formulation studied is the subsidy which is associated with changes in the level of usage of a particular input factor. The effects on both subsidized and unsubsidized factors are considered in terms of changed demand, the market effects, and economy-wide influences.

In astrology this is the age of Aquarius. In education this is the age of accountability and innovation. At the most general level, the principal concern of this paper is to identify those organizational, teacher and community characteristics which are associated with varying levels of student achievement growth—one measure of success for a performance contract. Social systems analysis suggests that the most general hypothesis of this study is: there will be a direct relationship between the ability of the innovation to satisfy the input supplying and output accepting dependencies and the success of the innovation. Based on prior research, four specific dependencies were examined in this study: Expectations concerning decisional participation levels in the school held by parents, [Belasco, James, Joseph Alutto, Alan Glassman. Differing perceptions of authority structures held by teachers and community members. Education and Urban Society (forthcoming).] teachers, [Morphet, Edgar, Roe Johns, Theodore Reller. 1967. Educational Organization and Administration, 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs.] personal predispositions of teachers to accept change, [Rokeach, Milton. 1960. The Open and Closed Mind. Basic Books, New York.] and the maintenance of manageable tension levels and high commitment levels [Miles, Matthew. 1965. Planned changes and organization health. Change Processes in the Public School. Center for the Advanced Study of Educational Administration, Oregon University.].