The formation and development of China’s Management Science and Engineering discipline are systematically examined from multiple perspectives， including the establishment and evolution of the disciplinary system， major research fields and methodologies， key characteristics of disciplinary development， and contributions to economic and social development. It is found that China’s Management Science and Engineering discipline possesses its own distinctive developmental context， disciplinary connotations， disciplinary structure， and independent academic contributions. As a comprehensive interdisciplinary field spanning the natural sciences， technical sciences， engineering sciences， humanities， and social sciences， its formation and development are grounded in the natural， technical， and engineering sciences and are deeply embedded in management practices across various domains of China’s economic and social development. The discipline has undergone three major stages the initial stage （1949—1977）， the recovery and reconstruction stage （1978 to the mid-to-late 1990s）， and the prosperity and innovation stage （from the mid-to-late 1990s to the present）. It has gradually developed research characteristics that are “problem-oriented， practice-driven， and innovation-oriented through interdisciplinary integration，” and has established a relatively mature disciplinary knowledge system encompassing 20 branch fields， including general management， systems management， behavioral management， operations research and optimization， and intelligent management. The discipline has made significant contributions to the advancement of global management science theory and practice and has become an indispensable component of the overall scientific system.
The development of the discipline exhibits four core characteristics. First， it closely aligns with major national strategies and engineering practices， extracting localized theoretical insights—such as top-level design and system decomposition， technical coordination and interface management， and comprehensive integration—from landmark projects including the “Two Bombs， One Satellite” program and the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge. Second， it emphasizes theoretical and methodological innovation， generating original theoretical achievements such as the Hall for Workshop of Metasynthetic Engineering， grey system theory， and extenics theory， while promoting the transformation of traditional management paradigms toward data- and AI-driven intelligent decision-making. Third， it integrates cultural inheritance with innovation by absorbing traditional Chinese management wisdom and realizing its modern transformation， thereby proposing new theories and methods such as Oriental management， harmonious management， Tao-based management， He-He management， and the Wuli-Shili-Renli （WSR） methodology. Fourth， rooted in China’s management practices， it has developed a diversified collaborative model characterized by “joint platform construction， collaborative project research， co-cultivation of talent， and shared institutional innovation，” while deepening international cooperation across multiple dimensions to advance disciplinary development.
The discipline has also made important contributions to economic and social development. In the field of technological innovation management， it provides systematic management frameworks for major scientific and technological initiatives such as the China Space Station. In major engineering management， it offers scientific methodologies for addressing uncertainty in complex systems. In industrial development， it facilitates industrial transformation and upgrading through resource optimization and process innovation. In social governance， it enhances the efficiency of emergency response and public service delivery.
Looking ahead， in response to new challenges and opportunities under evolving circumstances， the discipline will focus on emerging issues such as the deep integration of artificial intelligence and management， global supply chain restructuring， and green and sustainable development. It aims to achieve new breakthroughs in fundamental theories and key technologies， including complex system management and human-machine collaborative decision-making. At the same time， it is essential to further strengthen interdisciplinary integration with artificial intelligence and other fields， cultivate interdisciplinary talent， reform the talent training system， and provide more robust theoretical support and practical pathways for high-quality development and the modernization of national governance.
