Must We Revolutionize Our Methodology?

Concern has been widely expressed at the current state of the management sciences, both by practitioners and their clients. Some critics claim that management scientists, and particularly operations researchers, often work in isolation from the world of practical affairs, give priority to the esoteric objectives of their profession and remain more interested in the rigor of their models than in finding workable solutions to real problems. Perhaps more seriously, it is held that these disciplines have demonstrated their value in solving only a narrow range of problems which exhibit specific characteristics, for example the existence of a clearly defined objective function, and to which their portfolio of techniques applies. The capability of the management sciences to contribute significantly to today's social and political problems or to the design of our institutions is open to serious doubt. Yet, many practitioners feel that their discipline could and should make such a contribution. Moreover, many authors have expressed their expectation that this is the direction in which the profession will develop over the next ten years. Failure to achieve such a development, it is contended, will herald the decline of the management sciences, for they will have ceased to be relevant to the critical problems of the day.