Introduction:
Basically it is a branch of mathematics which provides a solid base to management to take timely and effective decision for any organization.
Characteristics of operation research: there are following characteristics of operation research
Operations Research is an interdisciplinary team approach.
Operations Research increases the creative ability of the decision maker.
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Operations Research is an interdisciplinary team approach.
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Operations Research increases the creative ability of the decision maker.
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Operations Research is a systems approach.
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The problems an operations research analyst face is heterogeneous in nature, involving the number of variables and constraints, which are beyond the analytical ability of one person.
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people from various disciplines are required to understand the operations research problem, who applies their special knowledge acquired through experience to get a better view of cause and effects of the events in the problem and to get a better solution to the problem on hand.
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This type of team approach will reduce the risk of making wrong decisions.
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Operations Research provides manager mathematical tools, techniques and various models to analyses the problem on hand and to evaluate the outcomes of various alternatives and make an optimal choice.
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This will definitely help him in making better and quick decisions.
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A manager, without the knowledge of these techniques has to make decisions by thumb rules or by guess work, which may click some times and many a time put him in trouble. Hence, a manager who uses Operations Research techniques will have a better creative ability than a manager who does not use the techniques.
Operations Research is a systems approach.
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A business or a Government organization or a defense organization may be considered as a system having various sub-systems.
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The decision made by any sub-system will have its effect on other sub-systems. Say for example, a decision taken by marketing department will have its effect on production department.
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When dealing with Operations Research problems, one has to consider the entire system, and characteristics or sub- systems, the inter-relationship between sub-systems and then analyses the problem, search for a suitable model and get the solution for the problem. Hence we say Operations Research is a Systems Approach.
