AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Commerce
B.A.

Operations Research Definitions

BY

Hassan Jassem Al Haj Mohammed

White paper produce to:

Dr. Husien Sharara

Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Faculty of Commerce Ain Shams University

2006

We can dividing OR Definitions as this table :

OR Definitions

Definitions that OR is science of decision-making

Definitions that OR is scientific methods to solve problems
Definitions that OR is mathmatical techniques to make decisions
Definitions that OR is science for allocation of scare resources
Definitions that OR improve efficiency and effectiveness of
decisions and optimizing the performance
Definitions that OR is management activity
Other Definitions of OR

A. Definitions that OR is science of decision-making :

1. The Operational Research Society of Great Britain: Operational Research
is the application of the methods of science to complex problems arising in
the direction and management of large systems of men, machines,
materials and money in industry, business, government, and defense. The
distinctive approach is to develop a scientific model of the system,
incorporating measurements of factors such as chance and risk, with which
to predict and compare the outcomes of alternative decisions, strategies or
controls. The purpose is to help management determine its policy and
actions scientifically.
2. George Bernard Dantzig: Professor Dantzig says in interview, which was
published in the October 1999 issue of OR/MS Today "I call it the science of
decision-making. That is, all the variations of abstracting a problem and
putting it into mathematical form. This includes the people who are

hassan

Page - 2 -

3/3/2006

inclined to be mathematicians who are trying to solve these abstract

problems all the way down to people who have the real problem and have
to get an answer to the boss. Operations research is all those things, and,
depending on whom you talk to, you'll get a different picture of what it is".
3. Morse and Kimbal (1964): OR is a scientific method of providing executive
departments with a quantitative basis for decision regarding the operations
under their control.
4. P.M.S.Blacket(1948): OR is a scientific method of providing executive with
an analytical and objective basis for decisions.
5. Thieanf and Klekamp (1975): OR utilizes the planned approach (updated
scientific method) and an inter-disciplinary team in order to represent
complex functional relationships as mathematical models for purpose of
providing a quantitative basis for decision making and uncovering new
problems for quantitative analysis.
6. D.W. Miller and M.K. Starr : Operations Research is applied decision
theory. It uses any scientific, mathematical or logical mans to attempt to
cope with problems that confront the executive, when he tries to achieve a
thorough going rationally in dealing with his decision problem.
7. O.R. is the science of rational decision making and the study, design and
integration of complex situations and systems with the goal of predicting
system behavior and improving or optimizing system performance. It
encompasses managerial decision making, mathematical and computer
modeling and the use of information technology for informed decisionmaking.
8. operations research is a scientific approach to analyzing problems and
making decisions. It uses mathematics and mathematical modeling on
computers to forecast the implications of various choices and zero in on the
best alternatives.
9. Operations Research is concerned with quantitative decision making in
business, industry and government. It is the application of mathematics
and the scientific method to problems such as resource allocation,
inventory control, scheduling, optimal design, and the operation of large
scale systems.

hassan

Page - 3 -

3/3/2006

10. Operations research is a scientific approach used for analysing the structure
of the system, solving various problems occurring in the system, then for
making reasonable and desirable decisions.
11. Operations Research is a group of techniques developed to apply scientific
methods and tools to solve the problems of decision making in complex
organizations and systems. Operations research searches for optimal
solutions in situations of conflicting goals and makes use of mathematical
models from which solutions for actual problems may be derived.
12. Operations Research is the application of scientific method, by
interdisciplinary teams of problems involving control of organised manmachine systems so as to best serve the purposes of the organisation as a
whole.
13. Operations Research is the use of Scientific Methods to provide criteria or
decisions regarding man-machine systems involving repetitive operations.

B. Definitions that OR is scientific methods to solve problems:

14. Churchman, Acoff, Arnoff (1957): OR is the application of scientific
methods, techniques and tools to problems involving the operations of
systems so as to provide those in control of the operations with optimum
solutions to the problem.
15. T. L Saaty (1958): OR is the art of giving bad answers to problems to which
otherwise worse answers are given.

16. Daellenbach and George -1 (1978): OR is the systematic application of

quantitative methods, techniques and tools to the analysis of problems
involving the operation of systems.
17. Though there is no "official definition" of Operational Research
("Operations Research" in the US), it can be described as a scientific
approach to the solution of problems in the management of complex
systems. In a rapidly changing environment an understanding is sought
which will facilitate the choice and the implementation of more effective
solutions which, typically, may involve complex interactions among
people, materials and money.

hassan

Page - 4 -

3/3/2006

C. Definitions that OR is mathmatical techniques to make decisions :

18. Daellenbach and George -2 (1978): OR is essentially a collection of
mathmatical techniques and tools which, in conjunction with a systems
approach, are applied to solve practical decision problems of an economic
or engineering nature.
19. Wikipedia Encyclopedia: Operations research, operational research, or
simply OR, is the use of mathematical models, statistics and algorithms to
aid in decision-making. It is most often used to analyze complex real-world
systems, typically with the goal of improving or optimizing performance.
20. Operations Research center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
Operations Research (O.R.) is the discipline of applying advanced
analytical methods to help make better decisions. Operations Research is
characterized by its broad applicability and by a wide variety of career
opportunities and work styles it embraces. It is also characterized by its
interdisciplinary nature.
21. Operations Research (OR) is the professional discipline that deals with the
application of information technology for informed decision-making.
22. O.R. is the professional discipline that deals with the application of
information technology for informed decision-making. It aims to provide a
rational base for decision making by seeking to understand and structure
complex situations and to use this understanding to predict system
behavior and improve system performance. Much of this work is done
using analytical and numerical techniques to develop and manipulate
mathematical and computer models of organizational systems composed of
people, machines, and procedures.
23. O.R. draws upon ideas from engineering, management, mathematics, and
psychology to contribute to a wide variety of application domains; the field
is closely related to several other fields in the "decision sciences" - applied
mathematics, computer science, economics, industrial engineering, and
systems engineering.
24. Operations research is the art of mathematical modeling and analysis to
design, evaluate, or improve the operations of a real-world system.

hassan

Page - 5 -

3/3/2006

25. Operations Research is a mathematical model is a collection of variables

and the relationships needed to describe important features of a given
problem.
26. Operations Research (OR) is the study of how to form mathematical
models of complex engineering and management problems and how to
analyze them using mathematical techniques.
27. Operations Research is constructing mathematical, economic and statistical
models of decision and control problems to treat situations of complexity
and uncertainty. Analysing the relationships that determine the probable
future consequences of decision choices and devising appropriate measures
of effectiveness.
28. Operations Research is employing management science, system analysis,
and mathematical modeling techniques to support managerial decision
making.

D. Definitions that OR is science for allocation of scare resources:

29. The Operations Research Society of America: Operations research is
concerned with scientifically how to best design and operate man-machine
systems, usually requiring the allocation of scare resources.
30. Hamdy A. Taha (1976): says " This new decision making field has been
characterized by the use of scientific knowledge through interdisciplinary
team effort for the purpose of determining the best utilization of limited
resources".
31. Hamdy A. Taha (1995): OR seeks the determination of the best (optimum)
course of action of a decision problem under the restriction of limited
resources.
32. Operations research is concerned with scientifically deciding how to best
design and operate man-machine systems, usually under conditions
requiring the allocation of scarce resources.
33. Operations research is a discipline dealing with various problems in which
optimization must be achieved in some sense, such as allocation of
resources with optimization relative to yield for fixed cost, time,
manpower, etc.

hassan

Page - 6 -

3/3/2006

34. Operations Research is the scientific approach to operational problems for

the greater fulfilment of objectives.
35. Michael Wilkes (1989): OR is scintific approach to the management of
systems usually involving the allocation of scare resources. A quantitative
model of the system is developed with the objectives of perdiction, control
or optimization.

E. Definitions that OR improve efficiency and

decisions and optimizing the performance :

effectiveness of

36. Rutgers Center of Operations Research: Operations research is an

interdisciplinary field that applied by industry and government in making
decisions about the use of scarce resources and in solving problems
involving complex design, allocation, planning, or logistics elements.
today, operations research is seen as an essential tool to help improve
efficiency of business and management.
37. Operations Research is the discipline of applying advanced analytical
methods to help make better decisions. By using techniques such as
mathematical modeling to analyze complex situations, operations research
gives executives the power to make more effective decisions and build
more productive systems.
38. Operations Research (OR) is the application of scientific methods to
improve the effectiveness of operations, decisions and management.
39. Operations Research is the branch of science dealing with techniques for
optimizing the performance of systems.

F. Definitions that OR is management activity:

40. Jagjit Singh (1968): OR is a management activity pursued in two
complementary ways-one half by the free and bold Exercise of
commonsense untrammeled by any routine, and other half by the
application of a repertoire of well-established pretreated methods and
techniques.
41. Operations Research is the study of administrative system pursued in the
same scientific manner in which system in Physics, Chemistry and Biology
are studied in natural sciences.

hassan

Page - 7 -

3/3/2006

G. Other Definitions of OR :
42. S. L. Cook (1977): says "OR has been described as a method , an approach,
a set of techniques, a team activity, a combination of many disciplines, an
extension of particular disciplines (mathmatics, engineering, economics), a
new discipline, a vocation, even a religion. It is perhaps some of all these
things.
43. Hillier and lieberman (2001): OR is applied to problems that concern how
to conduct and coordinate the operations within an organization.
44. Aurther Clarke: Operations Research is the art of winning wars without
actually fighting.
45. J. Steinhardt: Operations Research is Research into Operations.
46. Operations Research (OR) is a discipline explicitly devoted to aiding
decision makers.

My Definition
Operations

Research

is

an

interdisciplinary

work,

scientific

methodology, brain storming to modeling problems that arise in

business field in mathematical or scientific approach, aims to make
efficiency and effectiveness decisions.

hassan

Page - 8 -

3/3/2006

Refrences:
1. Books:
1. F. M. Wilkes; Elements of Operations Research; McGraw Hill; U. K.;
1980.
2. Frederick S. Hillier, Gerald J. Lieberman; Introduction to Operations
Research; 7th ed.; McGraw Hill; N.Y.; 2001.
3. Hamdy A. Taha; Operations Research an Introduction;5th ed.;
Prentice Hall; N.J. ;1995.
4. Michael Wilkes; Operations Research Analysis and Applications;
McGraw Hill; N.Y.; 1989.

2. Websites:
4. http://www.lionhrtpub.com/orms/orms-6-05/dantzig.html
5. http://rcw.raiuniversity.edu/electronics/BTechElectronics&Comm/op
erationresearch/lecture-notes/lecture-01.pdf
6. http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/informs/SU/career/career.htm
7. http://www.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/opre/
8. http://www.grips.ac.jp/syllabus/e/doc/pdf/operations_research.pdf
9. http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/operations_research
10.

http://www.euro-online.org/display.php?page=what_or&

11.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_research

12.

http://web.mit.edu/orc/www/index.html

13.
tml

http://www.aimms.com/aimms/context/operations_research.h

14.

http://www-iwse.eng.ohio-state.edu/orbrochure.pdf

15.

http://www.rose-hulman.edu/Class/ma/rader/ORNotes.pdf

16.
http://library.ucalgary.ca/libraryinformation/researchsupport/r
esearchdefinitions.php

hassan

Page - 9 -

3/3/2006

17.

http://stat.fsu.edu/undergrad/statinf2.html

18.

http://rutcor.rutgers.edu/

19.
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_operations
_research.html
20.

http://ie.postech.ac.kr/chaos/introduction.htm

21.
pdf

http://wwwpersonal.engin.umich.edu/~murty/510/510slides0.

22.
http://www.me.utexas.edu/~jensen/ORMM/models/unit/or_m
ethod/

hassan

Page - 10 -

3/3/2006