Main turning points in the pace of
the use of quantitative methods are mentioned: the scientific management revolution of
the early 90s in last century, initiated by Frederic Taylor
Operations research, or operational
research in British usage, is a discipline that deals with the application of
advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions' ft is
often considered to be a sub-field of mathematics. The terms management science
and decision science are sometimes used as synonyms.
Employing techniques from other
mathematical sciences, such as mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, and
mathematical optimization, operations research arrives at optimal or
near-optimal
solutions
to complex decision-making problems.
Because of
its emphasis on lluman-technology interaction and because of its focus on
practical applications,
operations research has overlap with other disciplines, notably industrial
engineering and operations management, and
draws on psychology and organization science. Operations research is often concerned with determining the maximum (of profit,
performance, or yield) or minimum (of loss,
risk, or cost) of some real-world objective. Originating in military efforts
before World War II its techniques have grown to concern problems in a variety
Overview
Operations Research (OR) encompasses
a wide range of problem-solving techniques and methods applied in the pursuit of
improved decision-making and efficiency, such as simulation, mathematical
optimization, queuing theory and other
stochastic-process models, Markov decision processes econometric methods, data envelopment analysis, neural
networks, expert systems, decision analysis, and the analytic hierarchy
process.
Nearly all of these techniques
involve the construction of mathematical models that attempt to describe the
system. Because of the computational and statistical nature of most of these
fields. OR also has strong ties to computer science and analytics. Operational
researchers faced with a new problem must determine which of these techniques
are most appropriate given the nature of the system, the goals for improvement,
and constraints on lime and computing power. The major sub-disciplines in
modern operational research, as identified by the journal Operations Research, are:
Computing
and information technologies
Environment,
energy, and natural resources
·
Financial
engineering
·
Manufacturing,
service sciences, and supply chain management
·
Marketing
Engineering
·
Policy
modeling and public sector work
·
Revenue
management
·
Simulation
·
Stochastic
models
·
Transportation
·
Historical
origins
The modern field of operational
research arose during World War II. Modern operational research originated at
the Bawdsey Research Station in the UK in 1937 and was the result of an
initiative of the station's superintendent, A. P. Rowe. Rowe conceived the idea
as a means to
analyze and improve the working of the UK's early warning radar system, Chain
Home Chain Initially, he analysed the operating
of the radar equipment and its communication networks, expanding TateTfo
Include ffie operating personnel's behaviour. This revealed unappreciated
limitations of the Cl 1 network and allowed remedial action to be taken.
Scientists in the United Kingdom
including Patrick Blackett (later Lord Blackett OM PRS), Cecil Gordon, C. II.
Waddington, Owen Wansbrough-Jones, Frank Yates, Jacob Bronowski and Freeman
Dysori, and in the United States with George Dantzig looked for ways to make
better decisions in such areas as logistics and training schedules. After the
war it began to be applied to similar problems in industry. Operational
research is also used extensively in government where evidence-based policy is
used.