Management Science Process: EOQ—Once More with Feeling

One of the objectives of this column [Graham, Robert J. 1978. On management science process. Interfaces8 (2, February).] is to act as a forum for endeavors aimed at combining aspects of both the behavioral and management sciences into a set of useful processes for problem identification and solution. Some authors feel that the incorporation of behavioral variables in management science models is the next step in making decision aiding models more palatable to the managers who are supposed to be using them. Some of the complaints leveled against the current state of management science are that the procedures and algorithms are too cold and calculating, based on principles such as optimization which are not a part of the management psyche, built on obscure logic and mathematics, and generally devoid of management and behavioral considerations. In short, the models lack feeling. The purpose of this article is to argue that the lack of feeling is not necessarily inherent in the use of decision-aiding models but rather is a result of the way that management scientists have come to view, teach, and use such models. The main thesis is that some simple changes in the way that we motivate, construct, and use models could go a long way towards incorporating some of the behavioral aspects of management and hopefully increasing managerial acceptance.