bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Management Science Process—On the Culture of Management Science
Authors: Graham Robert J. 
Published: October 2008

In keeping with the international theme of this issue of Interfaces. I thought it would be constructive to take one of the concepts that we use in dealing with people from foreign countries and apply it in our usual work day world. The concept I am interested in is the concept of culture and the problems that are inherent whenever two people from different cultures attempt to communicate with one another. It is well known that perceptual differences abound across different cultures, causing the same word or gesture to have two entirely different meanings for people from different cultures. In addition, some particular aspect of life, such as religion or education, may be very important to people from one culture but may mean nothing to people from another. In short, we tend to look at the world through our “cultural eyeglasses” and we perceive the world in the way that our culture dictates. In order to minimize the amount of miscommunication that arises between people from different cultures, it is important that we understand the direction in which our cultural eyeglasses are polarized as well as the slant of the people with whom we are dealing. The two cultures of interest here are that of the manager and the Management Scientist. I do not propose that these cultures be thought of as two distinct groups but rather as being on either end of a continuum with people tending to lean towards one direction or the other.
Stock Options for Management Scientists
Authors: Slivka Ronald T. 
Published: October 2008

The field of investments presents a large and fertile area for the application of both the theory and the practice of Management Science. There is an obvious economic requirement in investing to make theory and practice meet. This emphasis on practicality has also led to the adoption in the investment community of sophisticated analytical methods from many sources. With this background in mind and in the hope of stimulating new interest in financial problems among Management Scientists, I have prepared the following brief overview of a topic of intense current interest in the investment community. The topic is stock options.
Behavioral Science—Interfacing Applications and Research
Authors: Wynne Bye 
Published: October 2008

A new and valuable class of article has been pioneered successfully by Interfaces. Each issue now has an article featured on the cover which provides a direct, powerful picture of a real management problem, and the solution approach which has been adopted. Each of these cover articles is accompanied by an independent letter attesting to cost-savings or profit-improvement attributed to the Management Science effort. We can build upon this success in a variety of ways. I believe that one avenue we should explore is that of co-authorship which pairs an academic or theoretician with a practitioner or “industrial type.”
Practice of Management Science—A Faculty Model for Policy Planning
Authors: Gray Paul 
Published: October 2008

This policy-oriented faculty planning model can be used to evaluate the effects of present and proposed policies on the long-term future of academic institutions and to select those policies that will shape the composition of the faculty to meet the institution's objectives. The approach is that of a fixed-time-interval simulation with a one-year time step which traces individuals forward in time according to a set of policy inputs. Implementation has been successful at institutions ranging from small schools to large state universities. Three explorations are presented to illustrate the use of the model. First, benign, conservative, and draconian scenarios are examined and it is determined that the conservative policy maintains steady state. Second, sensitivity to variation of policy inputs is considered, with the following results: (1) Stringent promotion and tenure policies for senior appointees have marginal effects, but tenure rate for assistant professors is significant. (2) Early retirement provides short-term but not long-term advantages. (3) Resignation rates for senior faculty have more impact than many of the controllable policies. The third exploration demonstrates that once a school falls behind the “availability pool” for a specific group, such as women, it requires a long-term effort, including hiring at considerably above quota, to catch up.
A Multiattribute Model for Evaluating Industrial Customer's Potential
Authors: Martin Warren S. , Barcus Al 
Published: October 2008

There are two main reasons that industrial marketers give for not using customer marketing analysis techniques. The first is simply that many of them feel that they don't have the time or money to invest in such practices. The second is a lack of faith in sophisticated marketing analysis studies. They do not believe the complex methods of analysis can be applied to their environment. Additionally, there is a tendency to be secretive and to resist change. In spite of these difficulties, industrial marketers need help in dividing marketing efforts among markets, products, and accounts. A solution to this problem is the creation of a simple-to-understand and easy-to-use multiattribute model for evaluating a customer's potential. The use of multiattribute models in marketing has primarily dealt with brand choice. This paper presents an alternative method of applying the same tool.
Forecasting Nursing Staffing Requirements by Intensity-of-Care Level
Authors: Helmer F. Theodore , Oppermann Edward B. , Suver James D. 
Published: October 2008

One of the more difficult jobs confronting the hospital administrator is estimating the level of nurse staffing needed to meet patient requirements. The further in advance these estimates can be made, the easier it is to plan levels of staffing, vacation time, and training programs. These factors are vital inputs into the control of nursing salary costs, which usually represent at least 50% of the operating costs of the short-term acute-care hospital. In determining staffing requirements, such factors as total census, intensity-of-care levels, and type of ward must be estimated for appropriate planning to be accomplished. To aid in this process, the authors in this study developed a series of regression models for a short-term 220-bed hospital to determine nursing staff levels. Utilizing data from one year of manually prepared daily reports by shift, ward, and intensity-of-care levels, statistically significant models were developed which provided the following: 1. Using ward, month, day, shift, and time as independent variables, the number of patients in each level of care can be predicted. The number of patients by these levels can then be used to predict nursing man-hour requirements. 2. Or in a similar manner using only time, beds, ward, and month as the independent variables, the model can predict total hospital census for a specific month and by ward. Using this census prediction, the model can compute the levels of care for each ward based on the predictive model above, where time, ward, month, and shift are the independent variables. Using these levels of care and standard nursing hours, the model can determine the staffing requirements for the ward.
Validating a Large Scale Simulation Model of Wilderness Recreational Travel
Authors: Shechter Mordechai , Lucas Robert C. 
Published: October 2008

A large-scale simulation model of the use of outdoor recreation areas, especially ones with dispersed recreation patterns, has been developed that provides a means for experimenting with modifications of use or area conditions to determine effects on use patterns and congestion. The model and its applications to date, especially to the Desolation Wilderness in California, are briefly discussed. The main purpose of this paper, however, is to illustrate a validation procedure for such a large-scale simulation model, employing a series of validity tests. Because the question of validation has always constituted a thorny problem in the field of simulation, the paper attempts to show—in the context of a case study—how tests can go beyond the customary “tests of reasonableness” often employed in such cases.
Queueing Theory and Teller Staffing; A Successful Application
Authors: Deutsch Howard , Mabert Vincent A. 
Published: October 2008

In the May, 1978 issue of Interfaces, Jack Byrd questioned whether there is use for queueing theory, and he presented a series of scenario problems where queueing theory was not appropriate to solving real life problems. His argument was based upon the complexities of real life environments where (1) non-steady-state conditions could exist, (2) undefined service times were present, (3) unstructured queue disciplines existed, and (4) nonexponential service times were present. Several authors have published articles in this journal in the ensuing period with examples to disprove Byrd's thesis. We further argue that queueing theory is not the end in decision making, but just the beginning of the structuring of a decision making effort. This paper highlights a successful application of queueing theory to the teller staffing decision at Bankers Trust Company of New York, the eighth largest bank in the United States. A more extensive discussion of the bank's background and methodology described in this article is available through the Bank Administration Institute [Deutsch, Howard, Vincent A. Mabert. 1979. Teller Staffing Guide: A Case Study of the Teller Staffing System at Bankers Trust Company. Bank Administration Institution, Park Ridge, Ill.].
Goal Programming Priority Sensitivity Analysis: An Application in Natural Resource Decision Making Processes
Authors: Neely Walter P. , Sellers Jackie , North Ronald M. 
Published: October 2008

A Cross-Florida Navigable Waterway was proposed by the Jefferson Administration (1801–1809) and Congress authorized the first study in 1826. Four alternative routes were considered in the Survey Report of 1829 (Senate Document 102, 20th Congress). Serious construction of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal (CFBC) began in 1964 on the basis of a 1942 authorization. Construction was halted in 1971 with the project about one-third completed and with a sunk investment of about $74 million. Its status is described as “holding.” A substantial restudy of the project was undertaken in 1974–76 by the Corps of Engineers. One of these restudy efforts, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, utilized goal programming in order to consider both economic and environmental objectives simultaneously. Since these objectives had been considered separately before, the approach was a step forward. There were the difficult problems of quantification of environmental goals and specification of priority weights to measure economic and environmental trade-offs. These were resolved with a sensitivity analysis of the goal weights which utilized estimates of a triangular distribution for each goal.
Comments on the Comment
Authors: Rosenman Bernard B. 
Published: October 2008

The comments made by Professor Cox (previous article), while not entirely germane to the main thrust of my article, raise a number of points which it might be instructive to examine. The Army, of course, has an arborescent inventory system. The model briefly described in my article is used by the National Inventory Control Points (NICP's) for management of “wholesale” stocks; it is a single-echelon model dealing only with demands coming into the NICP's from their customers.
The Management Science Achievement Award—Ninth Annual Competition: 1980
Authors: Hirshfeld David S. 
Published: October 2008

The Kelly-Springfield Tire Company is the winner of the 1980 Management Science Achievement Award for its innovative, technically advanced, and effective use of Management Science in integrated operations planning and scheduling. The $6,000 cash prize was awarded to Robert H. King, Manager of Research and Planning, and Robert R. Love, Jr., Management Science Analyst, both of Kelly-Springfield's Operating Division. Their award-winning paper concerned production planning in tire manufacture. The judges were particularly impressed by the work of Kenneth G. Cooper, of Pugh-Roberts Associates, dealing with the Ingalls shipbuilding model as a technique for cost management and negotiation. For this work, Dr. Cooper received the second cash award of $2,500. Likewise of special merit was the entry by Betty W. Holz and General James M. Wroth (Ret.) of General Research Corporation on the Army's computer system for manpower planning, budgeting, and policy evaluation. For this work, Ms. Holz and General Wroth received the third cash award of $1,500.
Improving Strength Forecasts: Support for Army Manpower Management
Authors: Holz Betty W. , Wroth James M. 
Published: October 2008

Through innovative use of Management Science, manpower management in the Army has been significantly improved. A computer system has been developed by General Research Corporation that is used by Headquarters, Department of the Army, for manpower planning, budgeting, policy development, and monitoring the progress of manpower programs. Use of the system, called ELIM-COMPLIP, is central to the management of Army manpower and has been credited by senior Army officials with making several important contributions to improved national defense, including annual savings of more than $100 million in the Army's budget for military personnel, and enabling the number of Army divisions to rise from 13 to 16. The principal output from ELIM-COMPLIP is the Army military manpower program, which contains forecasts of strength, gains, and losses over a seven-year period, based on both historical time-series data and projected effects of changes in policy and other conditions. Included in the system is a goal programming model that, under a variety of user-specified constraints, determines the gains that will maintain operating strength as closely as possible to the levels required to man the Army's force structure.
Decision Support Systems: The Real Substance
Authors: Wagner G. R. 
Published: October 2008

Over the past three to five years, an increasing number of computer-based models and information systems have proven directly useful to executives. These systems, developed and used according to novel approaches, actually seem to enhance managers' thinking processes. A new school of thought called DSS (Decision Support Systems) discerns certain unifying principles among such systems and holds forth considerable promise for widespread implementation. DSS principles are just now being developed and understood. If the DSS concept has a valid core, it must be secured against adulteration and overburdening by evidence drawn from actual practice. To this end, a questionnaire survey was undertaken, which is reported here. It was conducted among the users of an advanced planning or modeling language used for building and using Decision Support Systems. The results indicate that the applications of this language largely coincide with certain norms of the DSS concept. The touchstone and hallmark of a DSS is apparently that it provides “Executive Mind Support.”
Seen Elsewhere
Authors: Morgan J. I. 
Published: October 2008

Digests presented: —MORE PRODUCTIVITY WILL NOT SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS (Business and Society Review Fall 1980, pp. 10–18), by Jay W. Forrester (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). —TOWARD A RATIONAL STRATEGY FOR OIL EXPLORATION (Scientific American Vol. 244, No. 1, Jan. 1981, pp. 55–65), by H. William Menard (Scripps Institution of Oceanography). —NEW DEMAND FOR MANAGING MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (Journal of Systems Management November 1979, Vol. 30, No. 11, pp. 6–19), by Edward F. Konczal (AT&T Long Lines).
A Totally New Direction for Management Education: A Modest Proposal
Authors: Glauque William C. , Woolsey R. E. D. 
Published: October 2008

“The major problem with business school graduates,” a businessman told us recently, “is that I have to train them for two years after graduation to do me any good. The first year they have to unlearn what they learned in school, and the second they start learning the business.” This is hardly a ringing endorsement of management education, but is repeated too often to be ignored. Despite the undeniable accomplishments of graduate education in management, many managers ruefully agree with Robert Townsend's advice not to hire Harvard MBA's. The article proposes a completely new way of educating managers in business schools so that they perform better in real practice.
Management Science and Jury Size: A Commentary
Authors: Gehrlein William V. 
Published: October 2008

The analogy of a jury decision is a common one when discussing the Management Science application of quality control. An incoming lot is “innocent” until proven “guilty” by inspection. There are costs for “convicting” a good lot and there are costs for “acquitting” a bad lot. Military standard acceptance sampling tables even allow us the option of using more discriminating sampling plans when the cost of making errors by too frequent “conviction” is high, relative to the converse situation. The general concern of the article is to estimate the impact of reducing jury size from the traditional number of twelve jurors. Some important factors are that in 64.2% of cases with 12 jurors, there is a unanimous vote to convict. Similarly, in 30.3% of these cases there is a unanimous vote to acquit. If jury sizes are reduced, it seems unlikely that any unanimous 12-person jury decision would change. That is, arguments were presented in a trial to convince all 12 jurors to have the same opinion. By reducing the jury size during that trial, there seems to be no reason to expect that remaining jurors would reverse their opinion, with all other things being the same.
Optimizing Course Content
Authors: Wilson Glenn T. , Aucamp Donald C. , Barringer Robert L. , Fogarty Donald W. 
Published: October 2008

We were recently forced to spend some time on a committee re-evaluating course content of our department's graduate Production Management course. As is usual in such meetings, we quickly reached a point of diminishing returns, with the discussion going round in circles. However, since we were Management Scientists, we put the situation to good use by constructing a mathematical model of our problem, which will be presented below. This is a neat theoretical application which is quite weak on data, since the value curves depend on the individual professor's subjective assessments. However, it proved to be a useful way of organizing our thinking about a controversial situation.
An Application of Linear Programming to Bank Financial Planning
Authors: Balbirer Sheldon D. , Shaw David 
Published: October 2008

The fundamental issues facing senior bank management revolve around the structuring of a bank's balance sheet. Since yields can be assigned to each asset category, and costs to each liability category, the profits of the bank can be represented in terms of its balance sheet position. Thus, a bank's financial goal of maximizing returns to shareholders through maximizing profits can be translated into the operational goal of achieving some target end-of-period balance sheet position producing the greatest profits. This paper describes a successful application of linear programming for assisting the management of Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company (CCB) in their financial planning process.
From Freight Flow and Cost Patterns to Greater Profitability and Better Service for a Motor Carrier
Authors: Barker Henry H. , Sharon Ed M. , Sen Dilip K. 
Published: October 2008

Two complex motor-carrier problems were solved by Management Science in the past few years by subsidiaries of the ANR Freight System. They involved efforts to improve profitability through an understanding of factors contributing to (a) Less-Than-Truck-Load (LTL) intercity linehaul productivity and (b) Truck-Load (TL) costing. The traditional approach of analyzing one lane at a time proved totally inadequate in a 50-city system with thousands of interdependent freight lanes. Linehaul productivity is sensitive to shifts in freight-flow patterns, such as seasonal variations or the 20% truck tonnage drop caused by the recession. The dangers to be avoided in the TL business are: (1) discouraging potentially profitable business by overestimating variable cost (such as backhaul), or, conversely, (2) soliciting potentially unprofitable freight. Decision aids were developed for both LTL and TL freight. Total profit increase since the study was implemented in May 1980 is estimated at $9 million per year, plus a one-time direct benefit of $3 million from eliminating the need for a new freight reship facility. Indirect benefits included service and market improvements, better management of equipment and drivers, etc. The philosophical impact on management perception and perspective was enormous. More accurate decision-making rules replaced traditional trucking “rules of thumb.”
Using a Dialysis Need-Projection Model for Health Planning in Massachusetts
Authors: Pliskin Joseph S. , Tell Eileen J. 
Published: October 2008

More than $5.1 million in unnecessary kidney dialysis facilities, equipment, and staff has been saved in Massachusetts during the past two years as a result of a model used by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to predict future need for dialysis in the state. These savings constitute 63% of the total proposed capital and manpower costs for the two-year period, accomplished mainly through the denial of 59% of the 163 requests for new dialysis stations. In addition to substantial savings in construction, new equipment and staff, the denial of these requests had several other benefits: Existing facilities have operated at more efficient levels, with lower per-patient treatment costs. Through the restriction of center dialysis supply, more patients were encouraged to utilize home dialysis. Greater reliance on home dialysis could translate into an annual savings of at least $2.6 million and an additional 333 person years as a result of the enhanced life expectancy for home dialysis patients. The need model has also been useful in more equitably distributing dialysis resources to regions in Massachusetts which have previously been underserved. The model has been successful in predicting the need for kidney dialysis services to within 1% of actual demand. Versions of the model are now being used by the US Department of Health and Human Services and by the six Health Systems Agencies of Massachusetts. Similar models can also be used to forecast the need for other types of specialized medical care technology, such as cardiac pacemakers.
Management Science Roundup—IFORS IX Meeting, Hamburg, July 1981
Authors: Dunford Fraser 
Published: October 2008

IFORS IX was convened in Hamburg, West Germany, from 20–24 July 1981. There were almost 500 attendees from nearly 50 different countries. Only the opening and closing sessions were plenary, and there was only one technical paper in each of these. All other papers were presented at simultaneous sessions. The opening plenary session was addressed by Richard M. Cyert, President of Carnegie-Mellon University, who spoke on “The Future of Operations Research.” The closing plenary session heard Jacques Lesourne, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris, who spoke on Operations Research and Systems Analysis.