The objective of management science is to solve the decision-making problems that confront and confound managers in both the public and the private sector by developing mathematical models of those problems. These models have traditionally been solved with various mathematical techniques, all of which lend themselves to specific types of problems. Thus, management science as a field of study has always been inherently mathematical in nature, and as a result sometimes complex and rigor- ous. When I began writing the first edition of this book in 1979, my main goal was to make these mathematical top- ics seem less complex and thus more palatable to under- graduate business students. To achieve this goal I started out by trying to provide simple, straightforward explana- tions of often difficult mathematical topics. I tried to use lots of examples that demonstrated in detail the funda- mental mathematical steps of the modeling and solution techniques. Although in the past three decades the empha- sis in management science has shifted away from strictly mathematical to mostly computer solutions, my objective has not changed. I have provided clear, concise explana- tions of the techniques used in management science to model problems, and provided many examples of how to solve these models on the computer while still including some of the fundamental mathematics of the techniques.
The stuff of management science can seem abstract, and students sometimes have trouble perceiving the use- fulness of quantitative courses in general. I remember that when I was a student, I could not foresee how I would use such mathematical topics (in addition to a lot of the other things I learned in college) in any job after graduation. Part of the problem is that the examples used in books often do not seem realistic. Unfortunately, examples must be made simple to facilitate the learning process. Larger, more complex examples reflecting actual applications would be too complex to help the student learn the model- ing technique. The modeling techniques presented in this text are, in fact, used extensively in the business world, and their use is increasing rapidly because of computer and information technology, and the emerging field of business analytics. Therefore, the chances that students
will use the modeling techniques that they learn from this text in a future job are very great indeed.
Even if these techniques are not used on the job, the logical approach to problem solving embodied in man- agement science is valuable for all types of jobs in all types of organizations. Management science consists of more than just a collection of mathematical modeling techniques; it embodies a philosophy of approaching a problem in a logical manner, as does any science. Thus, this text not only teaches specific techniques but also pro- vides a very useful method for approaching problems.
My primary objective throughout all revisions of this text is readability. The modeling techniques presented in each chapter are explained with straightforward examples that avoid lengthy written explanations. These examples are organized in a logical step-by-step fashion that the student can subsequently apply to the problems at the end of each chapter. I have tried to avoid complex math- ematical notation and formulas wherever possible. These various factors will, I hope, help make the material more interesting and less intimidating to students.
New to This Edition
Management science is the application of mathematical models and computing technology to help decision mak- ers solve problems. Therefore, new text revisions like this one tend to focus on the latest technological advances used by businesses and organizations for solving prob- lems, as well as new features that students and instructors have indicated would be helpful to them in learning about management science. Following is a list of the substantial new changes made for this 12th edition of the text:
?This revision incorporates the latest version of Excel? 2013, and includes more than 175 new spreadsheet screenshots.
?More than 50 new exhibit screenshots have been added to show the latest versions of Microsoft? Project 2010, QM for Windows, Excel QM, TreePlan, and Crystal Ball.
?為使讀者了解原書概貌，前言未作刪改。
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?This edition includes 45 new end-of-chapter homework problems and 5 new cases, so it now contains more than 840 homework problems and 69 cases.
?All 800-plus Excel homework files on the Instructor’s Web site have been replaced with new Excel 2013 files.
?Updated “Chapter Web links” are included for every chapter. More than 550 Web links are provided to access tutorials, summaries, and notes available on the Internet for the various topics in the chapters. Also included are links to YouTube videos that provide additional learning resources.
?Over 35% of the “Management Science Application” boxes are new for this edition. All of these new boxes provide current, updated
applications of management science techniques by companies and organizations.
?New sections have been added on business analytics (in Chapter 1), project risk (in Chapter 8 on project management) and data mining (in Chapter 15 on forecasting).
Learning Features
This 12th edition of Introduction to Management Science includes many features that are designed to help sus- tain and accelerate a student’s learning of the material. Several of the strictly mathematical topics―such as the simplex and transportation solution methods―are included as chapter modules on the Companion Web site, at http://www.pearsonhighered.com/taylor. This frees up text space for additional modeling examples in several of the chapters, allowing more emphasis on computer solutions such as Excel spreadsheets, and additional homework problems. In the following sections, we will summarize these and other learning features that appear in the text.
Text Organization
An important objective is to have a well-organized text that flows smoothly and follows a logical progression of topics, placing the different management science mod- eling techniques in their proper perspective. The first 10 chapters are related to mathematical programming that can be solved using Excel spreadsheets, including linear, integer, nonlinear, and goal programming, as well as net- work techniques.
Within these mathematical programming chapters, the traditional simplex procedure for solving linear program- ming problems mathematically is located in Module A on
the Companion Web site, at http://www.pearsonhighered
.com/taylor, that accompanies this text. It can still be cov- ered by the student on the computer as part of linear pro- gramming, or it can be excluded, without leaving a “hole” in the presentation of this topic. The integer program- ming mathematical branch and bound solution method (Chapter 5) is located in Module C on the Companion Web site. In Chapter 6, on the transportation and assignment problems, the strictly mathematical solution approaches, including the northwest corner, VAM, and stepping-stone methods, are located in Module B on the Companion Web site. Because transportation and assignment problems are specific types of network problems, the two chapters that cover network flow models and project networks that can be solved with linear programming, as well as traditional model-specific solution techniques and software, follow Chapter 6 on transportation and assignment problems. In addition, in Chapter 10, on nonlinear programming, the traditional mathematical solution techniques, includ- ing the substitution method and the method of Lagrange multipliers, are located in Module D on the Companion Web site.
Chapters 11 through 14 include topics generally thought of as being probabilistic, including probability and statis- tics, decision analysis, queuing, and simulation. Module F on Markov analysis and Module E on game theory are on the Companion Web site. Forecasting in Chapter 15 and inventory management in Chapter 16 are both unique topics related to operations management.
Excel Spreadsheets
This new edition continues to emphasize Excel spreadsheet solutions of problems. Spreadsheet solutions are demon- strated in all the chapters in the text (except for Chapter 2, on linear programming modeling and graphical solution) for virtually every management science modeling tech- nique presented. These spreadsheet solutions are presented in optional subsections, allowing the instructor to decide whether to cover them. The text includes more than 140 new Excel spreadsheet screenshots for Excel 2013. Most of these screenshots include reference callout boxes that describe the solution steps within the spreadsheet. Files that include all the Excel spreadsheet model solutions for the examples in the text (data files) are included on the Companion Web site and can be easily downloaded by the student to determine how the spreadsheet was set up and the solution derived, and to use as templates to work homework problems. In addition, Appendix B at the end of the text provides a tutorial on how to set up and edit spreadsheets for problem solution. Following is an exam- ple of one of the Excel spreadsheet files (from Chapter 3) that is available on the Companion Web site accompany- ing the text.
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