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.     

Spreading the gospel of management science: operational research in Iron and Steel, 1950–1970

This paper builds on the author's earlier work on the history of operational research by presenting an analysis of the development of the discipline in Iron and Steel, an industry long regarded as one of the outstanding pioneers in the application of management science to decision-making processes. The contribution of Sir Charles Goodeve and BISRA to the diffusion and practice of operational research is well-documented. Less well known is the reaction to operational research within the managerial hierarchies of the private sector iron and steel companies. In the light of the development of dedicated operational research groups by the leading companies after 1950, it might be assumed that the industry was highly receptive to the discipline in terms of its perceived benefits. The present paper questions this assumption by highlighting the problems encountered by operational researchers in two of the largest Iron and Steel Companies which gave every appearance of being at the forefront of the practice of management science in British industry. Where appropriate, the paper draws contrasts and comparisons with the development of operational research within the nationalised Coal Industry.     

Management Education and Management Science

The paper traces the development of thought on management education leading up to the present day and what is described as the “systems concept” of management. The development of this concept in courses at the University of Strathclyde, Churchill College, Cambridge, and the undergraduate course at University of Khartoum is discussed. The relationship of training for operational research and the use of operational research in management training is also discussed.     

Expert Systems and Operational Research-Mutual Benefits

The aim of much operational research and expert systems work is similar-helping a decision maker do his job. Liaison will produce mutual benefits. Expert systems development will benefit from the experience of operational research. The operational research community is well placed to support and develop the use of such systems by management.     

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.     

A Survey of Operational Research in British Industry

This paper surveys the recent development and present position of operational research in British industry. It makes a critical examination of the relationship between the techniques available and the types of problem on which they are deployed; it surveys the type of people now carrying out operational research and comments on career opportunities. The paper also considers the integration of operational research within industrial organizations and suggests ways in which it can be related to other management services.     

Operational Research and Corporate Planning in Railway Management

The current corporate planning process in Westrail is described and the roles played by operational research and mathematical modelling identified. They do not include forecasting the future. Instead of the "predict and prepare paradigm" a planning approach that tries to design the future has been adopted. The organisation is described in terms of how it has evolved, what it now is, and the key features of its environment. The three stages of planning are described-strategic, tactical and operational. These provide the means for management control of the railway. Environmental assessments linked to goal setting activities are incorporated within the planning process. The significance of operational research in planning, in particular mathematical modelling, is also described. Instead of finding problems to which existing techniques can be applied, O.R. is used to provide effective operational and planning systems as a means of assisting management to design the future for the organisation.     

Forest planning at the tactical level

Forest management and planning can involve large tracts of land involving numerous areal units. One approach to plan activities for a forested region over decades involves breaking down decision making into three components: strategic, tactical, and operational. Each level of the management hierarchy can involve the development and application of optimization models. These models typically aid in exploring management alternatives as well as multi-objective tradeoffs. Even though a strategic model can provide support for long term management at a broad scale, solutions may not be feasible at an operational level. Tactical level modeling helps to bridge solutions reached at a strategic level using operational planning information. This paper presents several tactical level planning models that have been developed as a part of a research effort supported by the US Forest Service. These models have been utilized in land use management and planning by the US Forest Service through a specially developed spatial decision support system.     

1996~2017年《Operations Research》期刊发文统计分析

《Operations Research》(OR)是运筹与管理科学领域的顶级期刊,对其刊文进行统计分析,剖析国际运筹学科领域的主流研究机构及合作影响,探究当前研究热点问题及学科发展趋势,对于促进我国运筹学科领域的发展具有十分重要的指引作用.基于对WOS核心数据库中该期刊1996至2017年间全部刊文的统计分析,得出以下结论:近年来我国学者发文量稳步提升,表明我国运筹学科领域研究水平的显著提高,但其影响力仍有待进一步提升;机构合作、国际合作都有助于文章引文量的提升;引证分析显示柔性制造(流程柔性及效率)、巢式Logit模型的应用、网络收益管理等7个研究方向是当前、并继续成为运筹领域的研究热点.     

Operational Research in Chile

Since the beginning of 1963 SIGMA has had a team of operational research scientists working for Compañía de Acero del Pacífico, one of the largest steel-makers in South America. The task has been to demonstrate the value of operational research to the company by solving a series of both tactical and strategic management problems and also to train some of the company's own engineers to form an effective internal operational research team.The company has allowed us to publish the results of any of the studies made and this has made it possible to write a complete story describing not only the work done and the successes, but also the difficulties that were encountered and the mistakes that were made. This article is not intended therefore to demonstrate yet further applications of well-known techniques nor to develop original problem-solving methods; rather it is to come out in the open and reveal the really difficult practical problems that face almost any operational research men and show how we attempted to solve them.     

A Part-Time Comprehensive Course in Operational Research-Experience at the Rutherford College of Technology

A 3-year part-time comprehensive course in operational research was inaugurated in 1964 by the Rutherford College of Technology and Procter & Gamble Ltd., administration and lecturing being shared between them.The College gained a new post-graduate school and the Company a relatively inexpensive method of increasing the technical competence of its management systems staff. Other industrial organizations in the North-east benefited by being able to train operational research scientists relatively inexpensively.The syllabus is given and experience of the first 3 years' operation is described.     

基于POT方法的商业银行操作风险极端值估计

对于商业银行而言,操作风险已经成为与市场风险和信用风险同样重要的风险。本文利用极值理论超越样本的估计能力,采用极值理论中对数据要求量较少,可以进行单步预测的超阈值(POT)方法对我国商业银行操作损失极端值分布进行估计,以均值超额函数图和拟合直线的交点确定阈值,估计出给定置信水平之下操作风险损失的分位数,从而使得国内商业银行操作风险监管资本的计算成为可能。     

The Implications of Cognitive-style Findings for Operational Research

Cognitive style refers to differences that can be perceived in individuals due to differing cognitive structures. There has been a large amount of research on how cognitive style affects managerial decision-making, particularly in the context of management information systems, but little or no attempt to relate these findings to operational research. This paper reviews the findings of cognitive-style research from the perspective of operational research, and draws a number of useful inferences concerning the matching of OR aids to managers, the presentation of information and recommendations, the use and acceptance of OR, and the structure of OR groups. Further, it is argued that cognitive-style findings help to give a justification to the move towards ‘soft’ approaches to analysis.     

A Consultant's Reflections on Client Management

To further the debate on the practice of operational research, an external consultant's viewpoints are considered about client management before, in the midst and towards the conclusion of an assignment. Relationships and communications are particularly emphasised.     

Forest management challenges for operational researchers

This is an overview of operational research work that has been carried out to support strategic forest management planning, short term forest planning, forest operations, and forest fire management. It identifies important unresolved problems and new challenges that could serve as a rich source of problems for both practitioners and researchers.     

基于知识图谱的运筹学发展现状及趋势研究

借助于Citespace软件对web of science上2006年到2015年之间以运筹学为主题的3166篇学术论文进行分析,梳理了运筹学这十年间的发展脉络、重要文献、研究热点和前沿等。研究发现,目前美国在运筹学研究领域依然遥遥领先,英国、中国等也取得了较为丰硕的成果。近十年对运筹学发展有较大影响的成果主要有Stahlbock R在2008对运筹学在港口的作业组织和控制,码头运作计划和调度应用的总结;19世纪70年代和80年代由Charnes A和Cooper W W以及 Rhodes E开创的CCR和BCC模型;1979年由Garey M R总结的具有三百个具有NP完全性的问题;由Goldberg D E在1989年对于遗传算法的论著等。研究热点领域主要集中在集装箱码头调度运输方面的研究。研究前沿主要集中在管理科学、战略制定、遗传算法、人员排班、数据包络分析等问题。     

Operational Research in the Steel Company of Wales Limited

This article is the first of a series in which it is planned to describe and discuss the work of a number of operational research departments in the United Kingdom. Operational research in the Steel Company of Wales is now over 10 years of age, and employs some 60 staff working as a Company function in the two major operating Divisions. It is a general service to management, giving what advice it can on problems which managers themselves consider important. It is characterized by a broadly based, scientific staff, embracing between them a range of techniques, including those of method study. Particular attention is paid to statistics, mathematics and electronic computing, in support of both operational research projects and more technological work. Over the years, the department has achieved an appreciable degree of practical success and its future is attractively bright.     

The optimal operational risk capital requirement by applying the advanced measurement approach

The purpose of this paper is to construct a risk quantification model to achieve the accurate operational risk management and gain the satisfying estimation and control of future possible extreme losses by using capital charges to assess operational risk. The paper takes a case bank as the research object and compares the differences under various circumstances engaging the Basic Indicator Approach, the Standardized Approach, and the Advanced Measurement Approach for the operational risk capital requirement of a bank. The results indicate that it is more appropriate to adopt the Advanced Measurement Approach to estimate the operational risk capital requirement; this way can help a bank enjoy a much lessened capital charge required and subsequently its available capital increases. Hence, it allows a bank to have sufficient funds in operations and reduce the burden of capital costs. Therefore, it will bring the positive benefits to the whole banking industry when enforcing the Advanced Measurement Approach.     

Operational knowledge management: identification of knowledge objects,operation methods,and goals and means for the support function

Though much has been written about knowledge management, this field has not been described extensively from an operational management perspective. Consequently, knowledge management seems difficult to implement at the operational levels of the organisations. To solve this problem, the abstract notion of knowledge is translated in operational knowledge objects. These objects are the input and output of two operation methods: (1) transformation or learning; and (2) knowledge logistics. The article describes several activities of these operation methods, and gives a classification of operational goals and means for the operations support function. The author concludes with mentioning challenges for the field of operational knowledge management.     

Operational Research and the Behavioural Sciences

Operational research has set for itself the general goal of providing solutions to management problems. In view of this the authors assert that operational research has paid scant attention to work in the behavioural sciences in devising its approaches to problems. This omission can be serious. It can also be remedied, at least in part, and it is the purpose of this article to lay a foundation for such a remedy.