The Shaping of Management Decision Science with Intelligent Technology

Technology has captured society’s imagination and in the process the promise for enhanced productivity to the benefit of all. To management falls the responsibility to deliver on the promise and to capitalize on the best methods technology has to offer, recognizing that there are no “miraculous” solutions. This paper examines management decision as an evolutionary object of science with particular attention to computer-based, “intelligent technology.” The shape of management decision science has emerged through the discipline of mathematics and the medium of information technology towards closer linkages between the fields of operations research and psychology/computer science-based problem solving paradigms in artificial intelligence. Despite cultural differences, the synergy is quite natural and the promise significant. We survey this evolution, caution the unwary on progress, and conjecture on the promise. The potential for impact and payoff is great, but de facto gains will take time and require substantial further work and understanding. Deja vu.

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