第六讲 运筹学

数学专业英语－Operations Research

The start of operations research took place in a mili tary context in the United Kingdom during World War Ⅱ, and it was quickly taken up under the nam e operations research (OR) in the United States. Aft er the war it evolved in connection with industrial o rganization, and its many techniques allowed for exp anding areas of application in the United States, the United Kingdom, and in other industrial countries. I t is, however, not easy to give a precise definition of operations research, There are three different repr esentative definitions.

According to the classical definition, due to P. M. Morse and G. E. Kimball, operations research is a s cientific method of providing executives with a quan titative basis for decisions regarding operations under their control.

The second definition, due to C. W. Churchman, R. L. Ackoff, and E. L. Arnoff, is as follows: operati ons research in the most general sense can be chara cterized as the application of scientific methods, tech

niques, and tools to the operations of systems so as to provide those in control with optimum solutions to problems.

As the third definition we mention the suggestion du e to S. Beer: operations research is the attack of m odern science on problems of likelihood (accepting mischance) that arise in the management and control of men, machines, materials, and money in their na tural environments. Its special technique is to invent a strategy of control by measuring, comparing, and predicting probable behaviour through a scientific m odel of a situation.

These three definitions have several common features. In the first place, operations research serves executi ves by providing partial observations and advice whi ch they can use in judging a situation. Second, the applicability of operations research is limited to area s where scientific methods can be successfully applie d. This is the reason why operations research would not be considered to extend beyond only partial ob servation and advice. A fundamental requirement for

a scientific approach is that it must have a mathem atical model whose validity can be tested by actual data, Third, any operation should satisfy three necess ary conditions in order that it may be an object of scientific approach: (1) the operation should be defin ed objectively; (2) the results, consequences, and eff ects of its application should be objectively measura ble; (3) the operation should be capable of repetition. Fourth , operations research should aim at finding a practical strategy. Although operations research is based on scientific methodology, it does not aim at establishing general scientific assertions that are valid for all situstions.

These four points are essential to any operations res earch, and are implicit in each of the three aforeme ntioned definitions.

On the other hand these three definitions emphasize differently some specific features of operations resear ch, according to their historical positions. In compari on with the first definition, the second makes clearer the place where operations research is applied by p