[CPLX]

Because science is an academic pursuit designed to create and test generalizable hypotheses and add to our collective knowledge, while the people in the article are trying to figure out how to optimize the act of underpaying someone to go grab some cans off a supermarket shelf and bring them to me.

They're not scientists, they're engineers perhaps, or business analysts.

[yummyfajitas]

So a person doing basic biology research for Monsanto isn't a scientist? And whether or not Kantorovich qualifies as a scientist depends on whether he was working for the military or a university at the time he came up with linear programming?

That's an interesting definition.

[CPLX]

No, basic biology research is science of course.

It doesn't depend on where the person works (though sure that's a relevant sign) it matters what they're doing.

Analyzing business related data and optimizing KPI's isn't science. At best it's applied science, which we have names for, such as engineering or statistics or financial analysis.