Content analysis of OR job advertisements to infer required skills

The paper presents an empirical method to infer employers' requirements ofoperational research (OR) skills by analysing the text of online job ads usingcontent analysis. The method entailed collecting more than a thousand job adsfrom online sources, creating a hierarchy of sets of OR-related words andphrases, and then analysing the job ads using content analysis software to countthe numbers of ads using the hierarchy of words and phrases. The method isparticularly well suited for the periodic analysis of job ads to understandchanges and trends, and is replicable in that, when carried out using ourproposed keywords, it would yield the same results for any set of OR jobads.     

The Content of MSc Operational Research Courses: Results of a Questionnaire to OR Groups

This paper presents the results of a survey of practising OR groups in UK organizations. The survey was conducted as part of the review procedures of Warwick University's MSc. in Operational Research. The aim was to elicit the views of OR practitioners as to the desirable content of such a course. The questionnaire was sent to 66 OR groups, of which 45 responded, and covered 75 different topics. As well as presenting the basic results, this paper explores the structure of the responses using factor analysis and attempts to classify the OR groups using cluster analysis. Comparisons are drawn with previous surveys and with the SERC OR panel recommendations.     

Understanding problem structuring methods interventions

This article presents a conceptual framework and methodological guide for researching and understanding OR interventions particularly problem structuring methods (PSM). The article argues that OR/PSM interventions are complex events which can not be understood by traditional approaches alone. In this paper an alternative methodology is developed, where the units of analysis are the narratives and networks produced during PSM interventions. The paper outlines the main theoretical and methodological concerns that need to be appreciated in studying PSM interventions. The paper then explores actor-network theory and narrative analysis as approaches to study them. A case study describing the use of these approaches is provided.     

Multiple-Model OR Packages

Multiple-model OR packages (MMORPs) are software packages which incorporate algorithms for the solution of a wide range of OR models. In this paper we consider 15 such packages which are currently available for the IBM-PC. A detailed review of these packages with respect to six common OR models [linear programming, integer programming, assignment, transportation, network analysis (PERT/CPM) and Markov processes] is presented. Criteria for choosing a MMORP are highlighted and a subjective judgement made as to whether each package is worth considering for purchase or not.     

Towards user-friendly OR: a Chinese experience

In contemporary China, user-friendliness has become not only a necessity for the success of OR projects but also a must for the survival of OR workers. This paper presents an approach that, based upon insights from Chinese thought as well as OR/MS experience in the Chinese context since the 1950s, can be useful for improving user-friendliness in the OR process. The paper also reports a real-world project in which OR workers pursue the user-friendliness of their work under the guidance of these insights and approach. A cultural analysis suggests that, while user-friendly OR is a universal concern, the Eastern and Western ways of tackling the issue appear different. The paper concludes that, in reality, Chinese OR workers must enhance their vision and skills so as to solve sociotechnical problems with diverse methods and do so in a user-friendly manner.     

OR groups and the professionalisation of OR

OR groups have been studied from several perspectives and increasingly their role as a means of organising OR work is seen to be subject to a variety of external influences. In this paper OR groups are examined as a form of arranging professional work in organisations using an analytic framework based on concepts from the sociology of professions. The changing character and fortune of such groups is shown to be related to processes involved with the professional character of OR. The role of education, changing organisational contexts, the emergence of other professions and the ability of OR to respond to these are all key factors in explaining the development of OR groups. Issues of relevance to the future of OR groups arising from this analysis are finally considered.     

The Summation Formulae of Euler�CMaclaurin, Abel�CPlana, Poisson, and their Interconnections with the Approximate Sampling Formula of Signal Analysis

This paper is concerned with the two summation formulae of Euler?CMaclaurin (EMSF) and Abel?CPlana (APSF) of numerical analysis, that of Poisson (PSF) of Fourier analysis, and the approximate sampling formula (ASF) of signal analysis. It is shown that these four fundamental propositions are all equivalent, in the sense that each is a corollary of any of the others. For this purpose ten of the twelve possible implications are established. Four of these, namely the implications of the grouping ${\text{APSF}\Leftarrow\text{ASF}\Rightarrow\text{EMSF}\Leftrightarrow\text{PSF}}$ are shown here for the first time. The proofs of the others, which are already known and were established by three of the above authors, have been adapted to the present setting. In this unified exposition the use of powerful methods of proof has been avoided as far as possible, in order that the implications may stand in a clear light and not be overwhelmed by external factors. Finally, the four propositions of this paper are brought into connection with four propositions of mathematical analysis for bandlimited functions, including the Whittaker?CKotel??nikov?CShannon sampling theorem. In conclusion, all eight propositions are equivalent to another. Finally, the first three summation formulae are interpreted as quadrature formulae.     

An exploration of three emancipatory themes within OR and systems thinking

This paper pursues the current debate about emancipation as one of the principal tenets of critical OR. It highlights some conceptual ambiguities involved in the notion of emancipation and so attempts to multiply the possibilities for an emancipatory approach to OR. The paper will explore three different emancipatory themes, one which understands the concept of emancipation in terms of a democratic discourse, a second which views it in terms of the cultivation of different virtues and values, and a third which questions the very essence of ethics and emancipation. Central to this analysis is a concern for the methodological implications of these three themes, and the current neglect of emancipatory methodologies for OR practice.     

Systems approaches and operational research

It is often stated that OR embodies a systems approach. What is meant by this varies widely from simple holism to abstract philosophy. This paper considers the impact that a systems orientation can have on the practice of OR by providing a language for analysis. As a language or framework it has severe limitations which are set out in the paper. Nevertheless, the paper concludes by arguing that a pragmatic systems viewpoint can be valuable.     

Solution of 3 × 3 games using graphical method

While graphical solution of 2×n games is described in all OR text books, solution of games of size 3×3 and higher sizes is obtained using simplex method only. This paper describes a method of solving games of size 3×3 graphically. The basic principle is to consider the problem as a three-dimensional model, and to convert it into plan and elevation, and thereby obtaining the solution. Each strategy is represented by a plane, and the common point where these planes intersect, is the solution point. The location of the plan of the solution point in relation to the strategies decides the probabilities with which they are to be played, and the height of the solution point gives the value of the game. Extension of this method for solving games of size 3×n is also discussed.     

Using analysis to influence strategic-decision making: option valuation at ECGD

This case-oriented paper shows how an in-house OR group in a small Government Department (ECGD) influences decision-making by feeding technical analysis directly into strategic decision-making. It covers both the technical detail of the analysis and the OR process which led to implementation. The technical part of the paper describes how the forecast expected cost of giving a fixed interest rate hold to a borrower was estimated using an option valuation. The cost estimation is complicated by the context: ECGD is also providing a guarantee of loan repayment by the overseas borrower to a bank, and ECGD costs include a binary bank margin cost which depends on whether the fixed interest rate hold is taken up by the borrower. The remainder of the paper describes the way OR analysts worked with decision-makers and considers the implications for effective practice.     

Operational Research in Organizations: a Metaphorical Analysis

The range of possible ways in which OR influences and is influenced by the organization in which it takes place is great. These influences will be due in part to the nature of the organization involved and such factors cannot be considered in general. However, other factors will have their roots in the generic processes and character found in OR and organizations. A potentially useful way of investigating these factors is to ask what part OR plays in an organization. The particular view held of organizations and of the behaviour of people within them will determine how this aspect of OR is understood. In this paper Morgan's method of organizational analysis based upon the idea of metaphor is adopted to explore the place of OR in organizations. This approach explicitly uses a multi-faceted style of analysis, which is seen to be preferable to one which is more partial in its treatment of organization.     

Operational research in the UK Ministry of Defence: an overview

The paper presents a survey of operational research (OR) as it is currently used in the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). After a short historical introduction summarising developments since 1945, it identifies the impact which the end of the Cold War has had on defence operational analysis (OA), as the discipline is generally called within MoD, in terms of the problems studied, the technical challenges presented and the techniques employed. The factors, both external and internal, that have led to the MoD maintaining and indeed expanding its OA activity against a background of falling defence budgets are discussed in the context of previously reported research on the survival and success of OR groups.     

The management of OR groups: results of a survey

This paper presents the results of a survey of OR group managers to examine the success and survival of OR groups in UK industry, commerce and the public sector, which was sponsored by the OR Society. The aims of the survey were threefold: to gain some understanding of the demographics of UK OR groups in the mid-1990s as compared to the evidence collected 10 years earlier by the Commission; secondly, to establish how OR groups work, the type of projects they carry out, the clients they work for and the organisations they work in; and finally, to gain an understanding of how OR groups are managed, including the factors that OR managers believed to be important in ensuring their group's continuing success. In a nutshell, this paper presents a snap shot of OR group management in the mid-1990s.     

A prospective look at the OR system

The paper examines the long term problems of operational research through an analysis of OR as a system. The general environment will change as a result of the transformations occurring within the developed societies and of the mutations in the North-South relations; the interaction between OR, mass media and public opinion will be influenced by the emerging ideologies; the naive conceptions of the division of labour between policy makers and OR specialists will have to be revised as OR studies will be more and more developed for governments through national administrations, international organizations or public opinions; the formulation of goals will no longer be separated from the search for institutions liable to elaborate suitable goals; the tendency towards a systems analysis inspired by general systems theory should be reinforced; and finally the OR people will have to rethink the relations between their applied studies, the central core of OR itself and the various social sciences. Time seems to have come for an epistemology and a prospective study of OR.     

WASAN: The development of a facilitated methodology for structuring a waste minimisation problem

This paper contributes a new methodology called Waste And Source-matter ANalyses (WASAN) which supports a group in building agreeable actions for safely minimising avoidable waste. WASAN integrates influences from the Operational Research (OR) methodologies/philosophies of Problem Structuring Methods, Systems Thinking, simulation modelling and sensitivity analysis as well as industry approaches of Waste Management Hierarchy, Hazard Operability (HAZOP) Studies and As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP). The paper shows how these influences are compiled into facilitative structures that support managers in developing recommendations on how to reduce avoidable waste production. WASAN is being designed as Health and Safety Executive Guidance on what constitutes good decision making practice for the companies that manage nuclear sites. In this paper we report and reflect on its use in two soft OR/problem structuring workshops conducted on radioactive waste in the nuclear industry.     

Determining new possible weight values in PROMETHEE: a procedure based on data envelopment analysis

Operational research (OR) offers efficient tools to support managers in strategic decision-making processes. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and multiple criteria decision aid (MCDA) are two important research areas in OR. These two domains are both based on the evaluation of “objects” according to multiple “points of views”. Within the MCDA framework, choosing appropriate weights for the different criteria often arises as a problem itself for decision makers. As a consequence, researchers have developed original methodologies to help them during this elicitation phase. In this work, we aim to investigate how DEA can be used to propose weights in the context of the PROMETHEE II method. More precisely, we suggest an extension of the so-called “decision maker brain” used in the GAIA plane (also known as PROMETHEE VI) based on DEA. The underlying idea is based on the computation of weights in PROMETHEE (GAIA brain) which are compatible with the DEA analysis. We end this paper with a numerical example.     

制造业计划与控制(MPC)中的OR技术

本文在对制造业计划与控制(MPC)中运筹学方法应用情况调查分析的基础上,探讨了MPC和运筹学这两者的内在特性和发展过程的某些一致性情况,分析了二者间存在的某种内在一致性,介绍了解决这些问题的一些特定运筹学方法,并就运筹学方法扩大在MPC中的应用所面临的挑战进行了分析说明并给出对策。