Operation Research

"Operation Research is the application of scientific methods techniques and tools to problems involving the operation of systems so as to provide those in control of operations with optimum solutions." ThesignificantfeaturesofO.R.aregivenbelow:

1\ Decision making: primaryORisaddressedto

managerialdecisionmakingofproblemsolving. Stepsfordecisionmakingare: (a)Definetheproblemandestablishthecriterionwhich willbeused.Thecriterionmaybethemaximizationof profitsutilityandminimizationofcostsetc. (b)Selectthealternativecoursesofactionfor consideration. (c)Determinethemodeltobeusedandthevaluesof theparameters. (d)Evaluatethealternativesandchoosetheonewhich isoptimum.

2\Scientific Approach:
O.R.employsscientificmethodforthepurposeof solvingproblem.Itisaformalizedprocessofreasoning andconsistsofthefollowingsteps: (a)Theproblemtobeanalyzedisdefinedclearlyandthe conditionforobservationsaredetermined. (b)Observationsaremadeundervaryingconditionsto determinethebehaviorsofthesystem. (c)Onthebasisofobservations,ahypothesisdescribing howthevariousfactorsinvolvedarebelievedtointeract andthebestsolutiontotheproblemisformulated. (d)Totestthehypothesis,anexperimentisdesigned andexecuted.Observationsaremadeand measurementsarerecorded. (e)Finally,theresultsoftheexperimentareanalyzed andthehypothesisiseitheracceptedorrejected.Itthe hypothesisisaccepted,thebestsolutiontotheproblem isobtained.

3\ Objective :
O.R.attemptstolocatethebestoroptimalsolutionto theproblemunderconsiderationforthispurpose,itis necessarythatameasureofeffectivenessisdefined whichisbasedonthegoalsoftheorganization.This measureisthenusedasthebasistocomparethe alternativecoursesofaction.

4\ Inter disciplinary team approach :

O.R.isinterdisciplinaryinnatureandrequiresateam approachtoasolutionoftheproblem.Thisrequires peoplewithexpertisearetheareasofmathematics, statistics,engineering,economics,management, computerscienceandsoon.

5\ Use of computer :
Useofcomputerhasbecomeanintegralpartofthe operationsresearchtodecisionmaking. Thecomputermayberequiredduetothecomplexityof themodel,volumeofdatarequiresorthecomputations tobemade.

Methodology of O.R. :
Thebasicanddominantcharacteristicfeatureof operationsresearchisthatitemploysmathematical representationsormodelstoanalyzeproblems.The scientificmethodtranslatesarealgivenproblemintoa retransformedintotheoriginalcontext.TheO.R. approachtoproblemsolvingconsistsofthefollowing steps: 1\ Formulate the problem. 2\ Determine the assumptions (model building) and formulate the problem in a mathematical framework. 3\ Solve the model formulated and interpret the result. 4\ Validate the model. 5\ Implement the solution obtained.

Historical background:
The first formal activities of Operations Research (OR) were initiated in England during World War II, when a team of British scientists set out to make scientifically based decisions regarding the best utilization of war materiel. After the war, the ideas advanced in military operations were adapted to improve efficiency and productivity in the civilian sector.

Example Imagine that you have a 5-week business commitment between City A and City B. You fly out of A on Saturdays and return on Mondays. A regular round-trip ticket costs SR400, but the price is SR 320 if the dates of the ticket span a weekend. A one-way ticket in either direction costs SR 300. How should you buy the tickets for the 5-week period? This is a decision-making problem which requires Answering: 1. What are the decision alternatives? 2. Under what restrictions is the decision made? 3. What is an appropriate objective criterion for evaluating the alternatives? Consider the alternatives: Buy five regular A-B-A for departure on Saturday and return on Monday of the same week. Buy one A-B, four B-A-B that span weekends, and one B-A. Buy one A-B-A to cover Saturday of the first week and Monday of the last week and four BA-B to cover the remaining legs. All tickets in this alternative span at least one weekend. The restriction on these options is that you should be able to leave A on Saturday and return on Monday of the same week. The objective criterion for evaluating the proposed alternative is the price of the tickets. The alternative that yields the smallest cost is the best: Alternative 1 cost = 5 X 400 = SR2000 Alternative 2 cost = 300 + 4 X 320 + 300 = SR1880 Alternative 3 cost = 5 X 320 = SR1600 Choose alternative 3.