Problems in the Utilization of Management Science/Operations Research: A State of the Art Survey

In management, a severe strain exists between the promises of scientific methods and the realities of practice. At a time when management is becoming more scientific, friction should be expected in the relationship between the practitioners of the art and the advocates of the new scientific knowledge. The practicing manager in the field is told that his ways are outdated and inadequate, that knowledge unfamiliar to him now points to a better way. The process by which progress in MS/OR is transferred into management operating practices is the cause of widespread uneasiness in the MS/OR profession. Over the last ten years a large body of proverbial lore has been built up about the “practicality gap” or “interface between MS/OR and management.” Yet no overall structuring of the relationship between the practice of management and MS/OR has been accepted, although many intuitively sound suggestions have been forwarded.