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Approaches to understanding the process of OR: Review, critique and extension

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  • Keys, P.

Abstract

The Practitioner's Dilemma draws attention to the distinction between the prescriptions for practice contained in the literature and the actuality of practice. In this paper a review of the current approaches to understanding the process of OR is carried out that identifies the source of the Dilemma to lie in the two types of explanation of practice that currently dominate the field. A third approach is identified that offers a different perspective on the process of OR that is not subject to the problems associated with the Dilemma.

Suggested Citation

  • Keys, P., 1997. "Approaches to understanding the process of OR: Review, critique and extension," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 1-13, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jomega:v:25:y:1997:i:1:p:1-13
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eden, Colin & Sims, David, 1979. "On the nature of problems in consulting practice," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 119-127.
    2. Keys, P, 1989. "MS/OR projects and their interaction," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 113-122.
    3. Corbett, Charles J. & Overmeer, Willem J. A. M. & Van Wassenhove, Luk N., 1995. "Strands of practice in OR (the practitioner's dilemma)," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 484-499, December.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. White, Leroy, 2016. "Behavioural operational research: Towards a framework for understanding behaviour in OR interventions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 827-841.
    2. R Ormerod, 2005. "Putting soft OR methods to work: the case of IS strategy development for the UK Parliament," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 56(12), pages 1379-1398, December.
    3. Franco, L. Alberto & Hämäläinen, Raimo P. & Rouwette, Etiënne A.J.A. & Leppänen, Ilkka, 2021. "Taking stock of behavioural OR: A review of behavioural studies with an intervention focus," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 293(2), pages 401-418.
    4. P Keys, 2006. "On becoming expert in the use of problem structuring methods," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 57(7), pages 822-829, July.
    5. White, Leroy & Burger, Katharina & Yearworth, Mike, 2016. "Understanding behaviour in problem structuring methods interventions with activity theory," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 983-1004.
    6. Ormerod, Richard, 1999. "Putting soft OR methods to work: The case of the business improvement project at PowerGen," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 1-29, October.
    7. Yearworth, Mike & White, Leroy, 2018. "Spontaneous emergence of Community OR: Self-initiating, self-organising problem structuring mediated by social media," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 268(3), pages 809-824.
    8. Z Zhu, 2011. "After paradim: why mixing-methodology theorising fails and how to make it work again," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 62(4), pages 784-798, April.
    9. Zhichang Zhu, 2022. "Paradigm, specialty, pragmatism: Kuhn's legacy to methodological pluralism," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 895-912, September.
    10. Jack R. Meredith, 2001. "Reconsidering the Philosophical Basis of OR/MS," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 49(3), pages 325-333, June.
    11. Morgan, Jennifer Sian & Howick, Susan & Belton, Valerie, 2017. "A toolkit of designs for mixing Discrete Event Simulation and System Dynamics," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 257(3), pages 907-918.
    12. Brocklesby, John & Midgley, Gerald, 2016. "Boundary games: How teams of OR practitioners explore the boundaries of interventionAuthor-Name: Velez-Castiblanco, Jorge," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 968-982.
    13. Ormerod, Richard & Yearworth, Mike & White, Leroy, 2023. "Understanding participant actions in OR interventions using practice theories: A research agenda," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(2), pages 810-827.
    14. Burger, Katharina & White, Leroy & Yearworth, Mike, 2019. "Developing a smart operational research with hybrid practice theories," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 277(3), pages 1137-1150.
    15. Hämäläinen, Raimo P. & Luoma, Jukka & Saarinen, Esa, 2013. "On the importance of behavioral operational research: The case of understanding and communicating about dynamic systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 228(3), pages 623-634.
    16. Keys, Paul, 2000. "Sockwear and its analysis: an examination of the Jones and Morse-Jones approaches," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 229-232, April.
    17. Franco, L. Alberto & Hämäläinen, Raimo P., 2016. "Behavioural operational research: Returning to the roots of the OR profession," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 791-795.
    18. Keys, Paul, 2000. "Creativity, design and style in MS/OR," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 303-312, June.
    19. Lami, Isabella M. & Todella, Elena, 2023. "A multi-methodological combination of the strategic choice approach and the analytic network process: From facts to values and vice versa," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(2), pages 802-812.
    20. R J Ormerod, 2008. "The transformation competence perspective," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(11), pages 1435-1448, November.
    21. L White, 2008. "Reply to Ormerod," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(1), pages 138-139, January.

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