There is synergy between the diverse methodologies of Operations Research and Management Science, and the many problems it seeks to solve. Operation Research/Management Science at Work is an example of that synergy. The principal aim of this book is to examine selected recent research in and applications of Operational Research/Management Science. The focus is on research that is of industry interest and covers a wide range of topics from major fields of OR/MS in a systematic and coherent fashion. Each application is chosen to demonstrate the elegance of their implementations. The book meets the needs of applied researchers who are interested in applications of OR/MS algorithms. Moreover, real world problems together with their solutions and implementations are the applications that have been selected for the volume. The Asia Pacific region has embraced business applications of decision support systems in recent years. Many of these applications have the state of the art OR/MS techniques in this region embedded in them. Hence, the increased use of OR/MS techniques in this region provides opportunities for identifying methodological advances that are taking place as a result of the unique nature of the applications. These also provide opportunities for exploring synergies and interfaces that exist between OR/MS, both in terms of applications and theoretical advances.

The principle aim of this book, entitled "Operations ResearchlManagement Science at Work", is to provide a summary snapshot of recent research in and applications of Operations Research (OR)/ Management Science (MS) in the Asia-pacific region. The book emphasises research having potential industry interest, covering a wide range of topics from major fields of ORIMS in a systematic and coherent fashion and shows the elegance of their implementations. The book is intended to serve the needs of applied researchers who are interested in applications of ORIMS algorithms. The book includes descriptions of many real-world problems together with their solutions; we hope the reader will appreciate their applicability. The Asia-pacific region has embraced business applications of decision support systems in recent years. Given that many of these applications are unaffected by legacy models or systems it has meant that state of the art ORIMS techniques have been embedded in them. Moreover, the increased use of OR/MS techniques in this region provides opportunities for identifying methodological advances that are taking place as a result of the unique nature of the applications. These also provide opportunities for exploring synergies and interfaces that exist between OR/MS, from the point of view of applications as well as theoretical advances.

This book originates from the IJCAI 2003 International Workshop on Multi-Agents for Mass User Support, MAMUS 2003, held in Acapulco, Mexico in August 2003. Besides revised selected workshop papers, the volume editors invited contributions by leading researchers in order to complete coverage of important aspects.

The papers address major current issues of multi-agent technology and its applications to support mass users and society more generally by using social coordination mechanisms. The papers are organized into topical sections on the theoretical background, resource allocation algorithms, mass user support in traffic systems, game theoretic analysis, and architectures for social coordination mechanisms.