IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jorsoc/v60y2009i10d10.1057_jors.2008.90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rethinking tradeoffs and OR/MS methodology

Author

Listed:
  • V J Mabin

    (Victoria University of Wellington)

  • J Davies

    (Victoria University of Wellington)

  • S Kim

    (Seoul National University of Technology)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of a process known as the ‘evaporating cloud’ (EC) as a way of enhancing OR/MS modelling. While other authors have described the use of the EC process to explore the tradeoffs in a traditional Economic Order Quantity model, this paper demonstrates the use of the EC with a facilities location problem, which was originally solved via mixed integer programming. We relate our findings to OR/MS modelling in general, and argue that the EC could contribute effectively to different phases of the problem-solving process, for example, aiding the problem-structuring phase and helping to find better solutions in many OR/MS modelling situations. We demonstrate that the EC is a valuable tool to use in modelling practice as a problem-structuring tool, as a way of dealing specifically with tradeoffs, and that it can therefore be a useful complement to OR/MS methodology, and contribute to OR/MS practice and teaching.

Suggested Citation

  • V J Mabin & J Davies & S Kim, 2009. "Rethinking tradeoffs and OR/MS methodology," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(10), pages 1384-1395, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:60:y:2009:i:10:d:10.1057_jors.2008.90
    DOI: 10.1057/jors.2008.90
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/jors.2008.90
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/jors.2008.90?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Milan Zeleny, 1981. "On the Squandering of Resources and Profits via Linear Programming," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 11(5), pages 101-107, October.
    2. Frederic H. Murphy, 2005. "ASP, The Art and Science of Practice: Elements of a Theory of the Practice of Operations Research: Expertise in Practice," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 35(4), pages 313-322, August.
    3. Arnold Reisman & Muhittin Oral, 2005. "Soft Systems Methodology: A Context Within a 50-Year Retrospective of OR/MS," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 164-178, April.
    4. O Berman & Z Drezner & G O Wesolowsky, 2008. "The multiple location of transfer points," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(6), pages 805-811, June.
    5. Sridharan, R., 1995. "The capacitated plant location problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 203-213, December.
    6. Hau L. Lee & V. Padmanabhan & Seungjin Whang, 1997. "Information Distortion in a Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(4), pages 546-558, April.
    7. Mingers, John & Brocklesby, John, 1997. "Multimethodology: Towards a framework for mixing methodologies," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 489-509, October.
    8. Davies, J. & Mabin, V.J. & Balderstone, S.J., 2005. "The theory of constraints: a methodology apart?--a comparison with selected OR/MS methodologies," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 506-524, December.
    9. John D. Sterman, 1989. "Modeling Managerial Behavior: Misperceptions of Feedback in a Dynamic Decision Making Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(3), pages 321-339, March.
    10. Frederic H. Murphy, 2005. "ASP, The Art and Science of Practice: Elements of a Theory of the Practice of Operations Research: Practice as a Business," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 35(6), pages 524-530, December.
    11. Sterman, John D., 1989. "Misperceptions of feedback in dynamic decision making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 301-335, June.
    12. Frederic H. Murphy, 2005. "ASP, The Art and Science of Practice: Elements of a Theory of the Practice of Operations Research: A Framework," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 154-163, April.
    13. Saul I. Gass, 1989. "Model World: A Model Is a Model Is a Model Is a Model," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 58-60, June.
    14. Michael H. Rothkopf, 1996. "Editorial: Models as Aids to Thought," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 64-67, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. S Robinson, 2007. "PSMs: looking in from the outside," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 58(5), pages 689-691, May.
    2. 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.
    3. Pastore, Erica & Alfieri, Arianna & Zotteri, Giulio, 2019. "An empirical investigation on the antecedents of the bullwhip effect: Evidence from the spare parts industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 121-133.
    4. Towill, Denis R. & Zhou, Li & Disney, Stephen M., 2007. "Reducing the bullwhip effect: Looking through the appropriate lens," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1-2), pages 444-453, July.
    5. Ma, Yungao & Wang, Nengmin & He, Zhengwen & Lu, Jizhou & Liang, Huigang, 2015. "Analysis of the bullwhip effect in two parallel supply chains with interacting price-sensitive demands," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 243(3), pages 815-825.
    6. Rich, Karl M. & Ross, R. Brent & Baker, A. Derek & Negassa, Asfaw, 2011. "Quantifying value chain analysis in the context of livestock systems in developing countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 214-222, April.
    7. Merrick, James H. & Weyant, John P., 2019. "On choosing the resolution of normative models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 279(2), pages 511-523.
    8. Li Chen & Hau L. Lee, 2012. "Bullwhip Effect Measurement and Its Implications," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 60(4), pages 771-784, August.
    9. Zhang, Xiaolong & Burke, Gerard J., 2011. "Analysis of compound bullwhip effect causes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 210(3), pages 514-526, May.
    10. Arunachalam Narayanan & Brent B. Moritz, 2015. "Decision Making and Cognition in Multi-Echelon Supply Chains: An Experimental Study," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 24(8), pages 1216-1234, August.
    11. Charles L. Munson & Jianli Hu & Meir J. Rosenblatt, 2003. "Teaching the Costs of Uncoordinated Supply Chains," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 24-39, June.
    12. Xuanming Su, 2008. "Bounded Rationality in Newsvendor Models," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 566-589, May.
    13. Rana Azghandi & Jacqueline Griffin & Mohammad S. Jalali, 2018. "Minimization of Drug Shortages in Pharmaceutical Supply Chains: A Simulation-Based Analysis of Drug Recall Patterns and Inventory Policies," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-14, December.
    14. Jaksic, Marko & Rusjan, Borut, 2008. "The effect of replenishment policies on the bullwhip effect: A transfer function approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 184(3), pages 946-961, February.
    15. Cannella, S. & Ciancimino, E. & Ashayeri, J., 2010. "On the Significance of Demand and Inventory Smoothing Interventions in Supply Chain," Other publications TiSEM 03de2e58-4ef5-40a3-96e1-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Ghaffarzadegan, Navid & Xue, Yi & Larson, Richard C., 2017. "Work-education mismatch: An endogenous theory of professionalization," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 261(3), pages 1085-1097.
    17. Ouyang, Yanfeng & Daganzo, Carlos, 2008. "Robust tests for the bullwhip effect in supply chains with stochastic dynamics," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 185(1), pages 340-353, February.
    18. Akkermans, H.A. & Bertrand, W. & Verhaegh, P., 2000. "Product life cycle-driven supply chain control in semiconductor capital equipment manufacturing," Other publications TiSEM a4bbdd5b-ee1a-4314-a243-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    19. Naim, M.M., 2006. "The impact of the net present value on the assessment of the dynamic performance of e-commerce enabled supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 382-393, December.
    20. Yang, Y. & Lin, J. & Liu, G. & Zhou, L., 2021. "The behavioural causes of bullwhip effect in supply chains: A systematic literature review," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:60:y:2009:i:10:d:10.1057_jors.2008.90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.