Requiem for the management science course?

Many observers of the management science scene believe that the traditional management science course is in serious decline in MBA programs throughout the United States. This trend, if prolonged, could reduce the number of academic jobs for OR/MS PhDs and, more important, could cause one or more generations of MBA graduates to have no appreciation of the power and scope of the management science approach. That this decline is happening now is particularly ironic. Never in its 50-year history has management science been more successful in the practical world or more approachable by the untrained novice. My impression is that the demand for management science analysis and analysts is stronger than ever, both in the traditional operational areas and in the financial-services sector. And the untrained analyst, with nothing more than a spreadsheet and an add-in or two, now has access to most of the management scientist's tool kit (including optimization, simulation, decision trees, and many other tools). Why is management science declining in MBA programs just when the field is enjoying such success and has become so approachable? I believe that to save the management science course we will have to change its fundamental paradigm. It is no longer enough (if it ever was) to train students to be intelligent consumers of management science analysis; today's students are capable of becoming active modelers. Moreover, as their general computing skills and especially their spreadsheet skills improve, they will increasingly demand training in the powerful tools of modeling and management science.