HOW THE PRACTICE OF OPTIMIZATION EXTENDS BEYOND THE DECISION SCIENCES

This paper began from a request to present an overview of what optimization is (from the view of decision sciences), its role and how businesses use optimization practices.  It was quickly realized that that might be a dry... [ view full abstract ]

This paper began from a request to present an overview of what optimization is (from the view of decision sciences), its role and how businesses use optimization practices.  It was quickly realized that that might be a dry subject for creating student interest in enrolling in an optimization course.  What evolved was a review of how optimization practices and philosophies have migrated beyond the domain of Operations Research and are applied to other business fields often under different names.  This paper will attempt to trace this expansion of OR concepts into current business practices and highlight how business has benefited from the mathematical and conceptual world of traditional Operations Research being applied in operations management roles.