Improving the Effectiveness of Management Services

Whatever your disciplinary background—decision science (DS), industrial engineering (IE), information systems (IS), Management Science (MS), Operations Research (OR), or systems analysis (SA)—your education consisted almost completely of models and techniques.

What is disconcerting to me (during my over 12 years on the Board of Directors of a nearly $100 million manufacturing firm) is to watch management services professionals rely on techniques, “accuracy” of measurements and models, and jargon in seeking approval for a recommendation (even for more accurate and detailed models and techniques). In addition, the professional far too often believes the technique or model led to the solution, rather than serving as one (quite minor) factor in arriving at accepted or implemented effective and innovative responses and changes.

Then how is a management services person to practice effectively? Through a conversion-to-practice linkage not often described or taught between the tools of the trade and the many other factors. The key link is a “total approach” which shows how to decide when a technique is or is not useful, and how to interrelate appropriately with the real-world organization and environment.