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The development of management sciences/operational research discourses: surveying the trends in the US and the UK

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  • A Paucar-Caceres

    (Manchester Metropolitan University Business School)

Abstract

This paper explores the trends in American and British management science/operational research (MS/OR) during the last 25 years. We argue that British MS/OR has developed a soft and systemic approach to MS/OR practice, which has resulted in the emergence of a number of interpretive and critical-oriented methodologies. American MS/OR practice has remained closed to the positivistic discourse. Using a set of keywords and authors’ names associated with the main features of the interpretive and critical MS discourses, we surveyed articles published in three major US MS/OR journals. We compare these results with trends in the UK MS/OR scene. Findings appear to confirm the different directions taken by the MS/OR practice across the Atlantic. The paper posits possible reasons underpinning these differences: firstly, the particular methodological path followed by the British MS/OR, from early ‘soft systems’ applications in the early 1970s to the now well-established ‘Problem Structuring Methods’; and secondly, continuous engagement between the systems and MS/OR British communities (a dialogue that seems not to have occurred in the US). The paper contributes to a reflection on the MS/OR historical developments and contrasts these developments in both countries, two areas of OR significantly under-researched.

Suggested Citation

  • A Paucar-Caceres, 2011. "The development of management sciences/operational research discourses: surveying the trends in the US and the UK," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 62(8), pages 1452-1470, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:62:y:2011:i:8:d:10.1057_jors.2010.109
    DOI: 10.1057/jors.2010.109
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Romero-Silva, Rodrigo & de Leeuw, Sander, 2021. "Learning from the past to shape the future: A comprehensive text mining analysis of OR/MS reviews," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
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    3. Alexandre de A. Gomes Júnior & Vanessa B. Schramm, 2022. "Problem Structuring Methods: A Review of Advances Over the Last Decade," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 55-88, February.

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