CHAPTER 21 SCIENCE AND SYSTEM IN MANAGEMENT RESUME

THE QUEST FOR SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT Operation Researc Operation Research was conceived as the application of scientific knowledge and methods to the study of complex problems with the stated purpose of deriving a quantitative basis for the decisions that would accomplish an organizations objectives The application of operations research techniques came very naturally to production management an area with structured kinds of problems and decisions for which decision rules could be rationally devised The old school and the new have both sought through the scientific method to rationally evaluate alternatives in an effort to find the best possible decision !odern management science inverted from scientific management was not so much the search for a science of management as a striving for the use of science in management Pro!"ction Mana#e$ent In Transition The outcome for management education was to move beyond the idea of factory" industrial"production management into an era that blended the old and the new into #production" operation management$ Taken together the %&RT and '%! techniques served to plan a network of activities their relationships and their interaction along a path to a given completion date The earlier notions of production management were reshape by operation researches statisticians and decision theorist( The application of the scientific method and the use of mathematics in some types of managerial problems could provide better information for decision makers )hile more advanced techniques enhanced the academic credibility of production"operation management some began to wonder whether these tools were placing too much O%! &esson Re%earne! The challenge was whether the *nited +tates could relearn the lessons about quality efficiency and productivity that it had been teaching the rest of the world since the scientific management period )alter ,( +hewhart -./0.1.0234 began working on industrial quality control problems in the early .056s with the goal of replacing the phrase #as alike as two peas in a pod #with$ as alike as two telephones( 7e devised a control chart to define the acceptable limits could be detected and studied as to what caused the unacceptable variation )illiam &dwards 8eming -.0661.0094( 7e blamed *+

management:$ The wealth of a nation depends on its people management and government more than its natural resources( The problem is where to find good management( ;t would be a mistake to export ,merican management to a friendly country$ 8eming identified seven deadly diseases that caused *+ industry to go into decline o <ack of constancy of purpose toward improvement of products and services o ,n emphasis on short1term profits o !erit rating or other evaluation of individual performance o =ob hopping by managers o !anaging by the numbers without considering figures that are unknown or unknowable o &xcessive medical costs -peculiar to the *nited +tated4 o The litigious nature of the *+ citizens causing excessive costs of liability that increased as lawyers worked on contingency fee The =apanese is a pioneered the idea of forming small problem solving groups of workers supervisors and specialist for the purpose of developing better ways of doing a job with higher quality SYSTEM AND INFORMATION Genera% S'ste$ T eor' <udwig von >ertslsnffy -.06.1.0354 a biologist is credited with coining the phrase #general systems theory$( >ertalanffy thought that it was possible to develop a systemic theoretical framework for describing relationships in the real world and that similarities among different disciplines could enable a general systems model to be developed Fro$ t e Co$p"ter A#e to t e In(or$ation A#e ,fter more than a century from 'harles >abbages conception to ,tanasoffs reality the computer evolved rapidly in technological capability and in applications Technology is the hand maiden of management theory and practice( ,dvancing computer technology provided the means to advance the managerial tasks of planning measuring evaluating and controlling organizational performance ;nformation has always been necessary for managerial decision making the &gyptian scribes who recorded their employers inventory with a stylus on a clay tablet were the forerunners of the modern information specialist ?or information systems technical capabilities involve finding and applying the appropriate computer hardware and software that will position the firm in a stronger competitive position ;nformation systems are important in all functional areas: finding developing and rewarding the right people@ planning and tracking production@ maintaining contact with suppliers and customers@ and engaging in electronic commerce

!anagerial capabilities determine strategy formulate plans design appropriate organizational arrangements coordinate work flow through the value chain and monitor performance

CONC&USION