The Use of Operational Research Tools: A Survey of Operational Research Practitioners in the UK

Given the importance of understanding decision making processes within organizations, studies of the attitudes of Operational Research practitioners towards specific aspects of their work is a neglected area of research. This paper furnishes an account of a questionnaire-based survey of industrially based OR practitioners selected from the membership of the Operational Research Society. The objective of the study is to assess the views of OR practitioners regarding the modelling and problem solving tools that are available to them. In particular, the issues of technique selection, the treatment of uncertainty, and the perceived contribution of Operational Research to decision issues are investigated. Results from the survey contribute towards both a greater understanding of OR practitioners' perspectives on the decision support process and the development of a profile of the membership of the OR Society.     

运筹学两个问题的注记

本文对运筹学中的两个问题提出了一些看法,显然这是"删繁就简"的。因为问题或许原本并没有那么复杂,只是我们把它们复杂化了。本文正是指出了这一点。     

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.     

Machine-Shop Problems: An Operational Research Approach

Production planning and scheduling in a batch production environment presents management with many problems, ranging from long-term capital investment in machine tools to short-term batch sequencing. This paper, which is aimed at the production manager, introduces the general concept of model building and then discusses the more specific technique of computer simulation modelling. A simple example of the latter is used to illustrate the basic properties of such a model and then the actual model currently being used is described. The possible applications of such models are discussed and developed. Finally, a case study is presented which shows how the model has been employed in an actual production environment.     

The Role of Operational Research in Creating an Information Technology Strategy

Journal of the Operational Research Society - Many organizations are now realizing that information technology (IT) is making a significant contribution to their operations, and could be even more...     

The Use of Operational Research in Twelve Companies Quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange

The use of OR was studied in 12 companies. Material was obtained through interviews with operational researchers and users. The result shows that coordination and production problems are the most common application areas. Network planning and simulation have often been used. Most projects cost less than $$\$$$6000 and require a work input of less than 4 man-months. The operational researchers are mostly located in staff positions and independent of any specific line function. The opposite is true for the users. If the company is divided into five levels, most operational researchers and users are located at the third level. A university degree in engineering is characteristic both for operational researchers and users with the operational researcher younger than the user.     

An Appraisal of some of the Problems of Measurement in Operational Research

Operational research is invariably concerned with the examination of systems which include human beings. Since the degree of confidence in a decision reached by operational research methods depends upon all relevant factors being included and measured correctly, it follows that as much attention must be paid by operational research workers to measurement in the fields of psychology and sociology, for example, as to measurement of physical quantities. Unless this is done, confidence will be reduced, and the whole purpose of operational research (which is to give confidence in decisions) defeated.     

Nuclear Fusion: Some Linked Case Studies in Community Operational Research

Work is described with a group of voluntary agencies providing housing and other welfare services to disadvantaged clients in an inner London area. Three different types of assistance were provided—with development of a computer system, with work scheduling and with structuring a problematic situation which was a source of internal tensions. The appropriateness for community groups of problem structuring methods is compared with that of the more traditional operational research approach.     

The Language of Operational Research

This paper is concerned with the language used to describe the OR approach. Much confusion is caused by a failure to properly distinguish Operational Research from science. Recognising the distinctions that should exist, leads to a modification of the model of the practice of OR and could lead to more practical papers being published in the journals.