Optimal Control Theory: Applications to Management Science and Economics

Optimal control methods are used to determine optimal ways to control a dynamic system. The theoretical work in this field serves as a foundation for the book, which the authors have applied to business management problems developed from their research and classroom instruction.

Sethi and Thompson have provided management science and economics communities with a thoroughly revised edition of their classic text on Optimal Control Theory. The new edition has been completely refined with careful attention to the text and graphic material presentation. Chapters cover a range of topics including finance, production and inventory problems, marketing problems, machine maintenance and replacement, problems of optimal consumption of natural resources, and applications of control theory to economics. The book contains new results that were not available when the first edition was published, as well as an expansion of the material on stochastic optimal control theory.

`Like the first edition, Sethi and Thompson's revised textbook advances the state of the art of operations research and management science on multiple dimensions. The authors provide a rigorous treatment of a powerful methodology. They demonstrate the deep managerial insights to be obtained in a variety of management and economics domains. The book facilitates learning in the classroom and encourages readers' creativity. The clarity in exposition makes the book accessible to diverse readers, including mathematicians interested in learning about applications and researchers in various application domains interested in developing new managerial results.
This is a very good textbook for subjects on optimal controls with management science applications. I have adopted this as a textbook and the students love it. Illustrative figures and diagrams are sufficiently provided, and materials are carefully explained. The use of the commonly available Excel program to solve TPBVPs at the end of chapter 2 is suitable for the ever increasing demand of "multimedia teaching". I have not seen any other optimal control textbook include such a set of Excel instructions in such a simple and elegant way. Moreover, the authors made a set of chapter-by-chapter Power Point files available on the web to supplement the textbook for classroom teaching. I'd give 5 stars to this book anytime.'
Joseph Lee, Hong Kong Polytechnic University