Operational Research and Formal Education

This paper, which was originally presented at the Second International Working Seminar of the University of Sussex in April 1978, gives an overview of Operational Research as applied to formal education in the United States. It first reviews past work in the field, much of which dates from the mid 1960's, when administrators first turned to O.R. for resolution of education's peculiar crisis situation. From this base, it develops a projection of an attainable state of the science and a proposal for its attainment.     

Education for Operational Research. A Practitioner's Viewpoint

University education for operational research in Britain is making great and welcome strides forward, but there has been little open discussion of its aims in relation to the advance of the profession. Progress in operational research, and in its application to the really worth-while problems of industry in particular, depends primarily on strengthening the industrial operational research group in its “front line” role. We need a research study of the teaching and practice of industrial operational research, in relation to effectiveness. We need “collaborative” programmes of operational research education in which the university and the industrial operational research group each contribute, in a man's training over a period of years, in the ways in which each is most competent. We need emphasis on “breadth” as well as “depth” in operational research education, and greater attention to the mutual contributions of operational research, teaching and practice, and the teaching and development of management. An impressionist sketch of a programme which might meet these needs is put forward for discussion of principles and feasibility.     

Integrated Software-Its Implications for Operational Research

This paper considers the integrated (i.e. multi-application) packages that now available on micros and their implication for O.R. It is suggested that O.R. technique packages should be linked into the integrated packages to make use of the facilities available and to take advantage of user familiarity. This would help make such packages cheaper and easier to use-perhaps by non-O.R. specialists-and open up the use of techniques on much smaller-scale problems.     

Operational Research for “Multi-organizations”

The need for operational research in the public and social services draws attention to the problems of conflicting and competing objectives present in such situations. The characteristics of a "multi-organization" are described, it consists of parts of several organizations, which come together for some task. Examples are given of the problems of doing operational research in multi-organizations and some possible approaches and models are suggested. Aspects of operational research methodology which require further development are indicated.     

Some Methodologies for Community Operational Research

As experience of conducting community OR projects grows and learning accrues, new approaches will be developed offering guidance on how best to proceed in alleviating the problems of community organizations. In the interim, it is sensible to consider which, if any, among the existing OR and systems methodologies might prove useful for this kind of work. In this paper it is argued that there already exist, within what might be described as ‘enhanced OR’, a number of approaches which are suitable for guiding community OR practice. This is demonstrated by outlining some of these methodologies, giving examples of their use with community organizations and showing their particular strengths in the community context. Some conclusions are drawn about the community OR enterprise.     

Rethinking Statistics Teaching for Operational Research

Statistics is a standard component of most Management Science or Operational Research courses. This paper argues that the teaching of Statistics in such courses should emphasise the philosophical aspects of the discipline, should concentrate on developing concepts rather than techniques, should stimulate ideas and should allow each student to reach his/her own level in the discipline. A postgraduate course structured in this way is described in detail.