SCIENTISTS, MODELS, AND RESOURCE MANAGERS

Abstract

Concerns are frequently expressed within the resource management community that many of the tools or models being developed to help people manage resources aren't being used. Less clear are the reasons, but a look at the contrasts between resource management and resource science provides some clues. The disciplinary organization of scientific knowledge, compared with the general nature of management problems, contributes to the gap between science and management. Many of the difficulties that resource scientists are experiencing are shared by management scientists attempting to provide problem-solving support to managers. In fact, management scientists who are developing tools for use by managers are sometimes said to be doing research on "toy" problems because of their tendency to oversimplify the "messes" or complex systems with which managers are trying to deal. To derive tools of use in solving real problems, some resource scientists will have to be willing to study and work with resource managers in the context where problems are faced.