This book presents the essential concepts of operations research and
engineering management in a structured manner. Starting with the basic
functions of management - planning, organizing, leading and
controlling - it introduces the reader to the process of strategic
decision-making, covering the essentials of technological invention
management, innovation and entrepreneurship, with ample examples of
decision-making under certainty, uncertainty and risk conditions. It
also exposes the reader to the fundamentals of managing projects and
professional communication. In order to reinforce the theory used,
practical case studies taken from relevant disciplines are introduced.
For instance, case studies from the retail sector have been appended to
the assignment problem and cases related to traffic have been introduced
for queuing formulation. The concept of game theory is discussed in
greater detail with an introduction to topics such as incentive
compatibility, Bayesian representations for different games, budget
balance, auctions and a broad coverage of mechanism design. While a few
of these problems have been solved in the book, a few others have been
left un-solved to promote readers' understanding. The mix of theoretical
and practical examples reveals to the reader the underlying complexities
and highlights the challenges entailed by field implementation.
