Bit Chapter One

Front 1

What is management science and by what other names is it referred?

Back 1

A scientific approach to solving management problems. also referred to as Operations Research, Quantitative Methods, Quantitative Analysis, and Decision Sciences.

Front 2

Management Science involves the philosophy of what?

Back 2

approaching a problem in a logical manner.

Front 3

What are the steps in the management science approach to problem solving? Be able to explain each step.

Back 3

Observation - Identification of a problem that exists (or may occur soon) in a system or organization.
Definition of the Problem - problem must be clearly and consistently defined, showing its boundaries and interactions with the objectives of the organization.
Model Construction - Development of the functional mathematical relationships that describe the decision variables, objective function and constraints of the problem.
Model Solution - Models solved using management science techniques.
Model Implementation - Actual use of the model or its solution.

Front 4

What are the components of a management science model? Be able to describe each one.

Back 4

Variable – a symbol used to represent an item that can take on any value.
Dependent Variable
Independent Variable
Parameters – known, constant values that are often coefficients of variables in equations.
Data – Pieces of information fro the problem environment.
A model is a Functional Relationship that includes variables, parameters, and equations.
Objective Function – a function associated with an optimization function that tells us how good a solution is.*
Constraint – a condition that a solution to an optimization problem must satisfy.*
Decision Variable – quantity a decision maker controls.

Front 5

Be able to list and discuss the components of break-even analysis.

Back 5

Volume – level of sales or production by a company (expressed as: quantity, dollar volume of sales, or percentage of total capacity available)
Cost
Fixed Costs: are independent of volume and remain constant
Variable Costs: depend on the number of items produced.
Profit – difference between total revenue and total cost

Front 6

What is a decision support system and why is it useful?

Back 6

a computer-based system that helps decision makers address complex problems that cut across different parts of an organization and operations. useful in answering “what-if?” questions and performing sensitivity analysis.