Management is the 'science' used for the application of quantitative techniques (those involving making measurements) to business decision-making. Business Management and its science cover the whole range of decision-making by management, for example, information technology, operations research, production management, marketing, personnel management, and cost accounting. Management methods operate by forming a quantitative representation of a business problem that is by putting a numerical value on the factors involved. This modelling process enables the major elements of the decision to be identified and considered in relation to the whole problem. Alternative solutions can be put forward, evaluated and an optimum solution found. There is always a need to balance the quantitative approach with behavioural considerations, keeping in mind that business decisions involve people. Whilst experience can be used to suggest how people might react in the future, conditions change and consequently people's future reactions are not always predictable. Thus management science techniques should be used as an aid to business decision-making not as a substitute for it. 1.2 Operational Research (OR)Operational Research (OR) is concerned with the application of mathematical, scientific, and engineering techniques to model and improve the operation of complex systems involving people, machines, and information. OR thus has much in common with systems engineering. Operational research emerged in the UK during World War II as an inter-disciplinary attempt to solve wartime logistical problems. Since then it has been applied to many planning and scheduling problems in industrial, commercial, and public sectors, often using the mathematical technique known as linear programming. OR provides a set of techniques which can be applied to business problems using some form of quantitative representation as an aid to (but not as a substitute for) decision-making. The aim of operational research is to find optimal courses of action using available resources, using methods such as project management and simulation techniques. One example of OR is queuing theory, which can be applied to service situations such as banks (or supermarkets) and used to determine how many service tills (or checkouts) are needed to provide a given level of service speed or cost. Another concern is the routing of delivery schedules in a distribution operation. Scientifically devised routing can increase the number of 'drops' undertaken by one van and decrease the total number of vans and drivers needed. Other typical OR problems might include the control of traffic flow within a city; and optimization of industrial production and distribution.