INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONS RESEARCH
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONS RESEARCH (OR)
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Operation Research, an approach to decision making based on the scientific method, makes extensive use of quantitative approaches to decision making. In addition to operation research, two other widely known and accepted names are management sciences and decision science interchangeably.
The scientific management revolution of the early 1900s, initiated by Frederic W. Taylor, provided the foundation for the use of quantitative methods in management. But modern management science research is generally considered to have originated during the World War II period, when teams were formed to deal with strategic and tactical problems faced by the military. These teams, which often consisted of people with diverse specialities (e.g., mathematicians, engineers and behavioural scientists) were jointed together to solve a common problem through the utilization of the scientific method. After the war, many of these team members continued their research in the field of management science.
1.2 WHAT IS OPERATION RESEARCH?
Operation Research is the scientific approach to managerial decision making. This approach starts with data. These data are processed into information that is valuable to people making decisions. This processing and manipulating of raw data into meaningful information is the heart of the Operation Research. Computers have been instrumental in the increasing use of Operation Research.
Operation Research has been applied successfully to an increasingly wide variety of complex problems in business, government, health care, education and many other areas. The successful use of quantitative techniques usually results in a solution that is timely, accurate, flexible, economical, reliable and easy to understand and use.
Today, operations research plays important roles in a variety of industries such as: airline - scheduling planes and crews, pricing tickets, taking reservations, and
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Operation Research, an approach to decision making based on the scientific method, makes extensive use of quantitative approaches to decision making. In addition to operation research, two other widely known and accepted names are management sciences and decision science interchangeably.
The scientific management revolution of the early 1900s, initiated by Frederic W. Taylor, provided the foundation for the use of quantitative methods in management. But modern management science research is generally considered to have originated during the World War II period, when teams were formed to deal with strategic and tactical problems faced by the military. These teams, which often consisted of people with diverse specialities (e.g., mathematicians, engineers and behavioural scientists) were jointed together to solve a common problem through the utilization of the scientific method. After the war, many of these team members continued their research in the field of management science.
1.2 WHAT IS OPERATION RESEARCH?
Operation Research is the scientific approach to managerial decision making. This approach starts with data. These data are processed into information that is valuable to people making decisions. This processing and manipulating of raw data into meaningful information is the heart of the Operation Research. Computers have been instrumental in the increasing use of Operation Research.
Operation Research has been applied successfully to an increasingly wide variety of complex problems in business, government, health care, education and many other areas. The successful use of quantitative techniques usually results in a solution that is timely, accurate, flexible, economical, reliable and easy to understand and use.
Today, operations research plays important roles in a variety of industries such as: airline - scheduling planes and crews, pricing tickets, taking reservations, and