Strategic operational research

Operational researchers have been slow to define and claim a strategic role for operational research (OR). This article discusses the OR activities of a number of leading-edge organisations, and argues that in several instances these activities have sustained a competitive advantage over a significant period of time, and are seen as a ‘strategic asset’ to the parent corporation. Finally, it is argued that OR people should begin talking about OR as a strategic asset, and that recognition of this strategic role provides a vision of a very exciting future for OR.     

An operational definition of learning

An operational definition offered in this paper posits learning as a multi-dimensional and multi-phase phenomenon occurring when individuals attempt to solve what they view as a problem. To model someone's learning accordingly to the definition, it suffices to characterize a particular sequence of that person's disequilibrium-equilibrium phases in terms of products of a particular mental act, the characteristics of the mental act inferred from the products, and intellectual and psychological needs that instigate or result from these phases. The definition is illustrated by analysis of change occurring in three thinking-aloud interviews with one middle-school teacher. The interviews were about the same task: “Make up a word problem whose solution may be found by computing 4/5 divided by 2/3.”     

Facilitated modelling in operational research

The traditional way of employing operational research in organisational interventions has been the expert mode. In this mode, the problem situation faced by the client is given to the operational research consultant, who then builds a model of the situation, solves the model to arrive at an optimal (or quasi-optimal) solution, and then provides a recommendation to the client based on the obtained solution. An alternative mode of engagement is to conduct the whole intervention together with the client: from structuring and defining the nature of the problem situation of interest, to supporting the evaluation of priorities and development of plans for subsequent implementation. In this latter mode, the operational researcher works throughout the intervention not only as an analyst, but also as a facilitator to the client. This paper discusses this latter mode of engagement with clients, with particular emphasis on the use of facilitated modelling as the intervention tool. Drawing on research scattered across a range of publications and domains, the review presented here provides a formal definition of facilitated modelling, together with a general framework that allows the conceptualisation of a wide variety of facilitated modelling approaches to organisational intervention. Design issues in facilitated modelling and their practical implication are discussed, and directions for future research identified.     

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.     

Management accounting and operational research

We discuss some topics relating to management accounting and operational research. Because of the wide area of application of operational research techniques in management accounting we had to make a choice and limited us to budgetting through input-output analysis, cost-volume-profit analysis and transfer prices in decentralized organisations.     

Strategy,performance and operational research

This paper explores the nature of operational research and its interactions with performance measurement and strategy. It is argued that operational research (OR) is well fitted to handle strategic issues as the modelling approach of OR facilitates understanding and learning, and the evaluation of strategies prior to action. The development of problem structuring methods is also a key aid to strategy and policy formulation. OR is also beginning to play a role in performance measurement and there is an opportunity for OR to lead in the improvement of performance measurement systems.     

The origins and diffusion of operational research in the UK

This paper analyses the origins and diffusion of operational research in the UK from the end of the Second World War to 1970. After acknowledging ORs military origins, the paper discusses the process of diffusion into the civilian sector. In this context, the critical role fulfilled by OR groups in the coal and iron and steel industries is highlighted, as well as the individual advocacy of key individuals such as Sir Charles Goodeve. The paper also comments on the development of OR in the UK corporate sector by presenting a number of representative case studies. It concludes with an examination of the factors which encouraged the diffusion of OR into civil government after 1965, contrasting this development with the muted response of Whitehall departments in the late 1940s.     

McNaughton and Canadian operational research at Vimy

One of the defining events of Canadian history was the celebrated Canadian Corps victory at Vimy during World War I. In this paper we outline the counter-battery work of Andrew McNaughton and his operational research team. In particular we detail their scientific approach to determining the location of German artillery.     

The practice of operational research in Taiwan

This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey of operational research/management science (OR/MS) practices in Taiwanese companies. The survey was addressed to the current status and future perspectives of OR/MS in Taiwan. During the spring of 2001, 2000 questionnaires were mailed to the top 1000 domestic manufacturing firms and top 1000 domestic service organizations. These asked questions concerning specific OR/MS techniques being used, application areas of OR/MS, reasons for using OR/MS, reasons for not using OR/MS, difficulties encountered practically, and future perspectives. Results from 262 valid respondents provided several informative findings. Compared with the 1995 survey of Kao et al, it found that the percentage of companies that have used OR/MS techniques increased from 62.7% in 1995 to 76.7% in 2001. Also, the percentage of companies that have never heard of OR/MS decreased from 16.1% in 1995 to 11.1% in 2001. Because of the Taiwan government recently developing educational and training programs in OR/MS, it found that the importance of OR/MS has been recognized by Taiwan companies as an efficient management tool for economic development, and the usage of OR/MS will continuously increase.     

Forecasting and operational research: a review

From its foundation, operational research (OR) has made many substantial contributions to practical forecasting in organizations. Equally, researchers in other disciplines have influenced forecasting practice. Since the last survey articles in JORS, forecasting has developed as a discipline with its own journals. While the effect of this increased specialization has been a narrowing of the scope of OR's interest in forecasting, research from an OR perspective remains vigorous. OR has been more receptive than other disciplines to the specialist research published in the forecasting journals, capitalizing on some of their key findings. In this paper, we identify the particular topics of OR interest over the past 25 years. After a brief summary of the current research in forecasting methods, we examine those topic areas that have grabbed the attention of OR researchers: computationally intensive methods and applications in operations and marketing. Applications in operations have proved particularly important, including the management of inventories and the effects of sharing forecast information across the supply chain. The second area of application is marketing, including customer relationship management using data mining and computer-intensive methods. The paper concludes by arguing that the unique contribution that OR can continue to make to forecasting is through developing models that link the effectiveness of new forecasting methods to the organizational context in which the models will be applied. The benefits of examining the system rather than its separate components are likely to be substantial.     

A changing trajectory of proof learning in the geometry inquiry classroom

The purpose of this study is to explore how students changes through learning to construct mathematical proofs in an inquiry-based middle school geometry class in Korea. Although proof has long been considered as one of the most important aspects of mathematics education, it is well-known that it is one of the most difficult areas of school mathematics for students. The geometry inquiry classroom (GIC) is an experimental class designed to teach geometry, especially focusing on teaching proof, based on students’ own inquiry. Based on a 2-year participant observation in the GIC, this study was conducted to address the following research question: how has students’ practice of mathematical proof been changed through their participation in the GIC? The in-depth analysis of the classroom discourse identified three stages through which the students’ practice of mathematical proof was transformed in the GIC: ‘emergent understanding of proof’, ‘proof learning as a goal-oriented activity’, ‘experiencing proof as the practice of mathematics’. The study found that as learning evolved through these stages, so the mathematics teacher’s role shifted from being an instructor to a mediator of communication. Most importantly, this research showed that the GIC has created a learning environment where students develop their competence in constructing meaningful mathematical proof and grow to be ‘a human who proves’, ultimately ‘a person who playfully engages with mathematics’.     

Inhibitory control and mathematics learning: definitional and operational considerations

The topic of inhibition in mathematics education is both well timed and important. In this commentary, we reflect on the role of inhibition in mathematics learning through four themes that relate to how inhibition is defined, measured, developed, and applied. First, we consider different characterizations of inhibition and how they may shape the ways that inhibition is conceptualized and studied in mathematics contexts. Second, we discuss methods that researchers use to study inhibition and how differences across these methods may constrain researchers’ conclusions or what these differences may imply for students’ use of inhibition when solving authentic mathematics problems. Third, we consider the relationship between intuition and mathematics content knowledge, including how this relationship may vary for students with different levels of knowledge. We end with a discussion of inhibition’s practical educational relevance, in which we offer a set of questions that may inform future conversations or research in the field.     

Fifty years of operational research and emergency response

Over the past 50 years, a wealth of applications has resulted from researchers turning their attention to operations such as fire suppression, law enforcement and ambulance services. The 1970s might even be argued as the ‘golden age’ of this particular effort, producing many of the seminal works in fire station location planning, unit assignment and ambulance queuing models. Such efforts naturally continue through to the present, but with a focus shifting away from earlier contexts of established urban emergency service systems. Simultaneously, current evidence from the field suggests that far more work remains. In this paper, we review the operational research (OR) foundation in emergency response so far, highlighting the fact that most of what has been accomplished addresses the well-structured problems of emergency services. This, in turn, offers an explanation for some paradoxical challenges from the field: most of emergency response itself is semi-structured, at best. While OR has traditionally focused on the management of an organization, emergency response ultimately requires the management of disorganization, suggesting an important OR growth area for the next 50 years.     

Data envelopment analysis,operational research and uncertainty

This paper discusses a number of applications of data envelopment analysis and the nature of uncertainty in those applications. It then reviews the key approaches to handling uncertainty in data envelopment analysis (DEA) (imprecise DEA, bootstrapping, Monte Carlo simulation and chance constrained DEA) and considers their suitability for modelling the applications. The paper concludes with suggestions about the challenges facing an operational research analyst in applying DEA in real-world situations.     

A successful operational research intervention in one-day cricket

After its introduction to one-day cricket in 1997, the Duckworth/Lewis method has spread to become the standard rule throughout senior levels of the game for resetting the target in matches shortened after their start due to rain or other causes. This paper reviews how the method is working following its application to more than 400 known cases. A comparison of the Duckworth/Lewis model with several years of data from international matches is made that confirms the suitability of the underpinning model, but the data indicate that there is a need to update the model's parameters. An upgrading of the model is suggested to cope with high-scoring matches when the basic model's assumptions begin to break down. Although the price of the enhanced model is loss of simplicity and complete reliance on software, cricketing authorities have begun to believe the price to be worth paying. Data from actual matches are used throughout to illustrate the implementation of this successful use of Operational Research principles to the solution of a practical problem in one-day cricket.