Title: The outlook for Operations Research: will business education supply enough management science new entrants to meet forecast demand

Authors: Richard A. McMahon; Peter D. DeVries

Addresses: Department of Finance, Accounting, and Computer Information Systems, University of Houston – Downtown, One Main Street, Houston, TX 77002, USA. ' Department of Finance, Accounting, and Computer Information Systems, University of Houston – Downtown, One Main Street, Houston, TX 77002, USA

Abstract: Can Management Science in Business Education become sufficiently popular to fill forecast demands for new entrants to its Operations Research (OR) subset? Based upon papers by numerous authors, this paper identifies an interesting phenomenon – an increasingly applicable field of Management Science plagued by students avoiding entry. This paper discusses the results of an examination of this phenomenon|s background, provides data collected concerning current supply of and projected demand for new entrants in a subset of Management Science; examines the continuing call for new approaches to teaching Management Science as a means of attracting new entrants; and presents continued research suggestions.

Keywords: operations management; operations research; management science; quantitative methods; quantitative techniques; business education; statistics; evidence-based management; business schools; new entrants; forecast demand; student choice; teaching techniques; education management; higher education; universities; KM; knowledge management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIE.2012.044007

International Journal of Management in Education, 2012 Vol.6 No.1/2, pp.157 - 173

Published online: 20 Dec 2014 *

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