Operations Research

For over four decades, Operations Research : An Introduction to Management Science has provided its readers with a sound conceptual understanding of various mathematical approaches and techniques that have shaped management science. Operations research methods / techniques have laid the foundations for a scientific approach to managerial decision-making and have become increasingly popular in recent times. This book aims to make these concepts and methods easily understandable, enabling its readers to appreciate the role of ‘Management Science’ in the organizational decision-making processes. The book is intended to serve as a core textbook for the students who can equip themselves with a robust understanding of operations research concepts before applying them directly to real-life business problems.

Salient Features

• This thoroughly revised and enlarged edition of the book presents the fundamental concepts of Operations Research in a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand manner.
• The text uses simple language, lucid style, cogent presentation and clarity of exposition. It is self-contained and adopts a practical approach to learning.
• The book focuses on marrying theories and concepts with their practical applications. There is an adequate emphasis on real-life applications from different spheres of business and industry.
• All the chapters have been reorganized and re-written to facilitate an easier to grasp of the core concepts being discussed.
• A wide variety of examples and illustrations have been included in the chapters to give hands-on practice in applying the methodology of Operations Research to real-world scenarios.
• At the end of each chapter, conceptual questions in the form of “Test Your Understanding” and a “Review Exercise” are given for adequate practice.
• The chapter on ‘Decision Theory’ has been thoroughly revised to emphasize problem formulation and structuring of the decision-making problems.
• The chapter on ‘Operations Scheduling’ has been dealt with at greater length owing to its increasing importance in the current business environment.
• A new chapter on ‘Statistical Quality Control’ is a fresh addition to this edition of the book. This has been done to recognize the tremendous importance of maintaining the quality of output and processes for the survival of any industry / firm.
• All critical steps of computational procedure for the important techniques have been presented in a step-by-step algorithm format. It can not only ease learning, but can also serve as a ready reckoner for decision-making situations.
• To enhance the understanding of the subject by readers of various disciplines, a conceptual approach is adopted, wherein discussion and presentation of each concept are followed by numerous illustrations from different functional areas of management.
• A novel feature of this text is the inclusion of a chapter on ‘Case Problems’. These have been derived from real-life examples of critical decision-making situations that management professionals have encountered.