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4 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

application of management science in practice. The first of these, Revenue Manage-
ment at American Airlines, describes one of the most significant applications of
management science in the airline industry.

1.2 Where Did MS Come From?

Patrick Blackett At this stage you may be wondering; where did MS come from, how did it develop? It
(1897–1974) – later is generally accepted that management science as a recognized subject has its origins
Baron Blackett – was one
of the leading figures in in the United Kingdom around the time of the Second World War (1939–1945). The
the UK in the early years UK’s very survival was threatened by its military enemies and the UK government
of operational research established a number of multidisciplinary groups to apply scientific methods to its
during Word War II and military planning and activities. Such groups consisted of scientists from a variety of
after. With a background
in physics (for which he backgrounds: mathematics, statistics, engineering, physics, electronics, psychology as
was awarded the Nobel well as military personnel and were tasked with researching into more effective
Prize), his declared aim military operational activities (hence the name operational research). These groups
was to find numbers on made significant contributions to the UK’s war efforts including: improvements in the
which to base decisions,
not emotion. early-warning radar system which was critical to victory in the Battle of Britain; the
organization of antisubmarine warfare; determination of optimum naval convoy sizes;
the accuracy of bombing; the organization of civilian defence systems. The fact that
these teams were multidisciplinary but also scientifically trained contributed signifi-
cantly to their success. Their scientific training and thinking meant they were used to
challenging existing ideas, they were used to querying assumptions made by others,
they saw experimentation as a routine part of their analysis, they applied logic to
problem solving and decision making, they collected and analyzed data to support
their thinking and their conclusions. The fact that members of the team had different
backgrounds, expertise and experience meant that not only could they challenge each
other’s thinking but they could also combine different approaches and thinking
together for the first time. With the entry of the USA into the Second World War
following Pearl Harbor, and given the obvious success of operational research in the
UK, a number of similar groups were also established throughout the US military
(usually known as operations research groups).
In 1948 the Operational After the war, operational research continued to develop in the military and in
Research Club of Great defence-related industries on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, there was
Britain was established
as a way of bringing considerable academic development of management science partially financed by
together those with an the US military, particularly in the areas of mathematical techniques. In the UK,
interest in seeing OR however, operational research took on a new role contributing to the programme of
introduced into industry, economic reconstruction and economic and social reform pursued by the new
commerce and
government. The Club Labour Government at the end of the war. The challenges faced by industry and
became the OR Society government in the UK at the time were major. There were issues relating to the
in 1953. move back to a peacetime economy and the huge transition that this would require;
there were issues relating to the management and development of the newly nation-
alized industrial organizations in industries such as coal, steel, gas, electricity, trans-
port; there was the huge demobilization of workers moving away from supporting
the war effort and back into peacetime employment. Partly as a result, and partly
because of the perceived success of operational research in the military, a number of
large operational research groups were established in these industries and in govern-
The first Masters and
Ph.D academic ment. Around this time also, academic programmes in management science began
programmes in OR were to be introduced and the first dedicated textbooks started to appear.
established in 1951 at Since then management science teams and management science techniques
the Case Institute of
Technology, Cleveland have spread into a wide variety of industrial and commercial companies, central
Ohio. government, local government, health and social care, across many different

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