The well known chemical equilibrium problem is expressed in the form of minimizing the free energy of a mixture in order to compute the chemical composition at equilibrium. By piece-wise linear approximations to the free energy function, the problem becomes a linear program which can be solved by a standard code on a computing machine. Successive approximations give any degree of accuracy.
Business school training needs to consider the managerial needs of a quarter century hence. This implies greater emphasis in designing business school curricula and teaching methods on the development of fundamental analytical tools and on the use of these tools in identifying, solving, and implementing decisions on managerial problems. Fundamental analytical tools will come especially from the behavioral sciences, economics, and quantitative methods (including the use of mathematics). The “applied” fields of business (marketing, production, finance, and so on) should, at least now, be viewed primarily as important problem areas where best solutions depend on the effective application of such fundamental tools. This approach implies elimination of much of the current subject matter of business school curricula.
Considerations which led to the selection of scientific Computers in preference to a business machine Data Processor for the preparation of Shop Orders, Scheduling and Control of Stock Status. Problems faced relative to the use of scientific Computers to handle large volumes of input and output data. Practical operating difficulties faced in the joint use of a Computer by Engineering and Accounting personnel. Problems encountered in attempting to capitalize to the maximum on the computer's potential capabilities. Advantage of having the programming and coding of a problem vested in one group of personnel. Management benefits accruing from the use of the Computer.
Integrated steel mills usually have a choice over the use of various materials and production processes. Different ores may be used in the production of iron; steel scrap and iron can be used in different proportions in the production of steel. The economical usage rate of all materials is a function of numerous variables, among which the market price of some materials, notably of various grades of steel scrap, fluctuates and therefore requires a periodic determination of the economical usage rate. This is a typical problem for programming. The paper presents a mathematical formulation of the stages of iron and steel production to determine the optimal (least cost) rate of input of materials. The models of the various stages of production are connected to form a “master model” of an integrated steel mill.
The evaluation of alternative locations for an automatic classification yard has become an important problem for railroad managements. Because of the lower classification costs in these yards and the importance of such costs, many railroads have installed these newer facilities. An automatic yard represents an investment of $5,000,000 or more. Hence, the decision to install such a yard and the question regarding its location merit considerable thought and attention. In this paper, a simple model is constructed to aid a railroad management in choosing among alternative locations. This model is being used by one firm, and it should prove useful to many operations researchers interested in the industry. Although it was constructed primarily to deal with the problem of yard location, the model seems sufficiently flexible to deal with other railroad problems. A few of these other problems are also discussed briefly. The plan of the paper is as follows. Sections I and II contain some introductory material concerning freight yards and some definitions of terms. Section III contains a full description of the location problem we consider. Sections IV–VI deal with the model and procedure we propose. Section VII contains a numerical example, and Section VIII contains some concluding remarks.
A systematically organized method of writing can improve an organization's communications. Such a systematic method of writing can be expressed in the technical notation of modern symbolic logic or in a modified form of ordinary English prose that can be easily understood by readers who have not had any training in modern logic. This method can provide both a means of detecting ambiguities and a means of simplifying complicated statements without changing their meaning. Once an ambiguity is detected a writer can cut that ambiguity out, or he can allow it to remain. He is not forced to delete ambiguity in the systematically organized method of writing suggested in this article. This method of writing is likely to be used by organizations if, and only if, its merits are fully understood.
Every working day between 5 and 6 P.M., 20,000 New Jersey bound commuters enter the Port of New York Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. Over 400 buses arrive in the terminal, load these commuters and depart during this one peak hour. This terminal is located in the heart of the city where land availability is critical. Thus, “limited access” multiple berth platforms are utilized. The commuter operation in the terminal is characterized by the following conditions: 1. Two random inputs cause two converging inter-related waiting lines to be formed—one of buses and one of passengers. Bus waiting lines are critical because of limited bus storage areas. 2. “Limited access” berthing which prevents buses from passing in platform lanes necessitates a commuter traffic simulation method to govern the problem's internal logic. 3. Parameters for bus arrival distribution functions can be controlled to some degree by scheduling policy. The method provides for evaluation of a variety of such policies. 4. Three parties with three independent interests—The Port Authority, the bus owners and operators, and the commuters—must be simultaneously satisfied. Because of these conditions; optimum design constitutes a challenging research problem. A Port Authority Operations Research team studied the problem using traffic simulation and Monte Carlo methods on an IBM 650 Computer.
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate some applications of the functional equation technique of the theory of dynamic programming to a general class of problems arising in the study of networks, particularly those arising in transportation theory.
The “Management Sciences” must have a science foundation upon which to build a structure to serve management. To date, the sciences making the greatest contribution have been mathematical and physical in nature. But theory, experimental design, and measurement are rapidly revolutionizing our knowledge of the human being so that the psychological and biological sciences may be expected to make a greater and greater contribution to the management sciences. This paper reports the work being done on the research frontier at the University of Michigan in connection with organisms as systems, the reactions of groups, models of human preference, the experimental exploration of human observation, detection, and decision making, and the analysis and synthesis of speech. While these areas are not useful for immediate application at the user's level in the management sciences, a recent symposium on the subject provided a short tour through these greenhouses of science for management from which applicable science may be expected to emanate. The material of the symposium will be reported in the paper.
My predecessors, the three former presidents of The Institute of Management Sciences, have already established something of a tradition for the TIMS presidential address. Having been involved with the affairs of the Institute during most of a year, they talked about its aims and activities. This address also will concern these activities; in fact, that is its title: The Institute in Action. Before this address is over I hope you will have reflected on something which you already know and that you will carry this thought with you, if no other, when you leave. You are the Institute and the Institute in Action is you in action.