what are the history of operation research

Operations Research Origin (History)

The ambiguous term operations research (O.R.) was coined during World War II, when the British military management called upon a group of scientists together to apply a scientific approach in the study of military operations to win the battle. The main objective was to allocate scarce resources in an effective manner to various military operations and to the activities within each operation.

The effectiveness of operations research in military spread interest in it to other government departments and industry.

Figure: Origin of Operations Research

Due to the availability of faster and flexible computing facilities and the number of qualified O.R. professionals, it is now widely used in military, business, industry, transportation, public health, crime investigation, etc.

"War is the science of destruction." - John S. C. Abbott

Meaning of Operations Research

OR means to use scientific and mathematical techniques for making decisions and solving problems. It is concerned with co-ordinating and controlling the operations or activities within an organization. It can be regarded as use of mathematical and quantitative techniques to substantiate the decisions being taken. OR helps to take decisions about operations and production. It takes tools from subjects like mathematics, statistics, engineering, economics, psychology, etc. and uses them to know the consequences of possible alternative actions.

Numerous synonyms for operations research are in common use. The British like operational research and the Americans like management science , but a preferable term to describe this subject is decision analysis .

Making decisions or taking actions is central to all operations research applications.

Definitions of Operations Research

Following are some defintions of operations research by different authors .

O.R. is the art of winning wars without actually fighting. - Aurther Clarke

It is concerned with scientifically deciding how to best design and operate man-machine systems usually under conditions requiring the allocation of scarce resources. -O.R. Society of America

O.R. is the art of giving bad answers to problems which otherwise have worse answers. -T.L. Saaty

O.R. is applied decision theory. It uses any scientific, mathematical or logical means to attempt to cope with the problems that confront the executive, when he tries to achieve a thorough-going rationality in dealing with his decision problems. -D.W. Miller and M.K. Starr

Operational research is a scientific approach to problems solving for executive management. -H.M. Wagner

O.R. is the application of scientific methods, techniques and tools to problems involving the operations of a system so as to provide those in control of the system with optimum solution to the problem. -Churchman, Ackoff and Arnoff

O.R. is the study of administrative system pursued in the same scientific manner in which systems in Physics, Chemistry and Biology are studied in natural sciences.

Figure: Definitions of Operations Research

O.R. is scientific methodology-analytical, experimental, quantitative-which by assessing the overall implication of various alternative courses of action in a management system, provides an improved basis for management decisions. –Pocock

Management science is the application of the theories of Probability, Statistics, Queuing , Games , Linear Programming , etc. to the problems of war, govt. and industry.

O.R. is the use of scientific methods to provide criteria for decisions regarding man machine systems involving repetitive operations.

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History of Operational Research

Operational research (OR), also known as operations research, has its roots in the early 20th century, particularly during the World Wars. It emerged as a response to the complex logistical and strategic problems faced by military organisations. Here's a brief history:

World Wars: The origins of OR can be traced back to the British military efforts during the Great War and the Second World War. There are many examples, such as how the British Royal Air Force established the Operational Research Section to analyse and optimise military operations. Teams of scientists, mathematicians and engineers were tasked with solving various military problems, such as improving aircraft performance, optimising bomber tactics, and minimising losses.  

The birth of operational research: The term "operational research" was coined in 1940 by A.P. Rowe, a British Air Ministry scientist. The phrase referred to the application of scientific methods to analyse and improve the effectiveness of military operations.

The expansion: OR gained prominence beyond military applications after the war. Organisations began to recognise its potential to solve complex problems in various sectors, including manufacturing, transportation, logistics, finance, healthcare, and telecommunications.  

Methodological developments: OR evolved rapidly in the post-war years with the development of mathematical modelling, optimisation techniques, simulation, queuing theory, game theory, and decision analysis. These tools enabled OR practitioners to address a wide range of real-world problems more effectively.  

Academic recognition: OR became an established field of study with the founding of academic departments and professional societies dedicated to its advancement. The Operational Research Society (ORS) was founded in the United Kingdom in 1948, followed by similar organisations worldwide.

Applications in business: OR techniques found widespread adoption in business and industry during the latter half of the 20th century. Companies utilised OR to optimise production processes, inventory management, supply chain logistics, scheduling, and resource allocation, leading to improvements in efficiency and profitability.

Further developments: OR continued to evolve with advancements in computing technology, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Operational researchers began integrating techniques such as machine learning and big data analytics into their toolkit to tackle increasingly complex problems.  

Contemporary applications: Today, OR is applied across various domains, including transportation planning, healthcare management, energy systems optimisation, environmental sustainability, and disaster response. It remains a critical discipline for decision-making in both the public and private sectors.  

Overall, the history of operational research reflects its journey from its wartime origins to becoming a multidisciplinary field essential for solving complex problems in diverse domains.

Want to know more about a pioneer of operational research?

Patrick blackett – pioneer of or.

Who was Patrick Blackett? Physicist, Nobel prizewinner and one-time president of the Royal Society, Patrick Blackett was one of the pioneers of operational research (OR) during the second world war, when he advocated for the employment of scientists to advise on matters of strategy and tactics to great effect.

Since the war, OR has spread into business, government, public services, education, defence and beyond, improving performance and helping people make evidence-based decisions. Blackett's fame does not match up to his extraordinary achievements, so this Draw My Life raises the profile of a remarkable individual whose legacy of operational research continues to shape our lives to this day.

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Brief History of Operations Research

Operations Research (Operational Research, O.R., or Management science) includes a great deal of problem-solving techniques like Mathematical models, Statistics and algorithms to aid in decision-making. O.R. is employed to analyze complex real-world systems, generally with the objective of improving or optimizing performance.

In other words, Operations Research is an interdisciplinary branch of applied mathematics and formal science which makes use of methods like mathematical modeling, algorithms statistics and statistics to reach optimal or near optimal solutions to complex situations.

It is usually worried about optimizing the maxima (for instance, profit, assembly line performance, bandwidth, etc) or minima (for instance, loss, risk, cost, etc.) of some objective function. Operational Research aids the management to accomplish its objectives utilizing scientific methods.

Origin and History of Operations Research in Brief

While researching for operations research (O.R.) history , I discovered that history is not clear cut, different people have diverse views of the same event.

Based on the history of Operations Research , it is believed that Charles Babbage (1791-1871) is the father of Operational Research due to the fact that his research into the cost of transportation and sorting of mail resulted in England’s universal Penny Post in 1840.

The name operations research evolved in the year 1940 . During World War 2, a team of scientist (Blackett’s Circus) in UK applied scientific techniques to research military operations to win the war and the techniques thus developed was named as operation research.

As a formal discipline, operations research originated from the efforts of army advisors at the time of World War II. In the years following the war, the methods started to be employed extensively to problems in business, industry and society. Ever since then, OR has developed into a subject frequently employed in industries including petrochemicals, logistics, airlines, finance, government, etc.

Thus, the Operational Research began during World War II in great Britain with the establishment of groups of scientists to analyze the strategic and tactical problems associated with military operations. The aim was to discover the most efficient usage of limited military resources by the application of quantitative techniques.

Figure – O.R. Origin

At the conclusion of war different things happened to O.R. in the Great Britain and in the United States. In the UK expenses on defense research were lowered; this resulted in the discharge of numerous Operational Research workers from the military at a time when business managers were facing the need to restore much of Britain’s production facilities which had been ruined in war. Professionals in the nationalized basic industries, specifically, needed assistance from the OR men leaving the military organization.

To the contrary, defense research in US was increased and O.R. was expanded at the conclusion of war. The majority of the experienced workers stayed in the service of the army. The ultimate involvement of science in industrial problems of the executive type in the US is a result of the advent of Second Industrial revolution.

World war II had sparked scientific advances in the study of communication, computation, & control which produced the technological grounds for automation. In early 1950s industry started to take in a few of the Operational Research workers who left the army. Thus O.R. started to spread and expand in the United States.

Read Also: Origin of Operations Research

Video: Introduction to Operational Research

India was among the few nations which began utilizing O.R. In 1949, the first Operational Research unit was established at Hyderabad which was named Regional Research Laboratory located. At the same time an additional unit was launched in Defense Science Laboratory to fix the Stores, Purchase and Planning Problems.

In 1953 at Calcutta, an O.R. unit was established in Indian Statistical Institute. The objective was to use O.R. techniques in National Planning and Survey. In 1955, Operations Research Society of India was created, which is among the first members of International Federation of Operations Research societies. Today, the utilization of O.R. techniques have spread out from army to a wide range of departments at all levels.

Read Also: Best E-book on Operations Research

In this article, we discussed about the historical development of Operations Research in  brief  . In case we have missed something then post in comments section.

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Thanks for the explanation. Currently i am doing operating research as a unit in mathematics at MARIST INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE NAIROBI, KENYA AFRICA. I hope this will go a long way in assisting me more and more.

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Very interesting

Interesting facts, which softwares under the OR are available for logistical use and planning

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Operations Research Center

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The Operations Research Center at MIT was established in 1953 by renowned physicist Philip M. Morse, a pioneer in the field of operations research (OR) and the first president of the Operations Research Society of America (ORSA).  

Under his esteemed leadership, we introduced a rigorous OR curriculum—the first program of its kind in the U.S.—that challenged students to apply scientific methods to decision-making and taught them how to use those techniques in such fields as education, industry, and public service.

Today, we continue this tradition of academic excellence, and we are widely recognized as one of the largest and most successful OR programs in the world.

In fact, our enrollment has increased from a handful in the 1950s to nearly 100 exceptional students—and our nearly 60 distinguished faculty members represent a diverse array of academic specialties. We now offer three first-rate graduate programs: a doctoral degree (PhD) in operations research, a master’s degree (SM) in operations research, and a master’s degree (MBAn) in business analytics. And we are proud to provide our students and faculty with a state-of-the-art facility, where they collaborate on award-winning research.

While much has changed since 1953, one thing has not: We value thinking that is both creative and innovative—and that has a real and lasting impact worldwide. 

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Testimonials of our Faculty can be found here .

Testimonials of our Students can be found here .

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Examples of the impact of the ORC Faculty can be found here . 

The Nature of Operations Research and its Beginnings

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The development of military operations research in World War II is outlined, with examples of several specific studies. This historical account is followed through postwar applications in U. S. industry, the organization of professional societies and the recent applications by governmental agencies to problems in the public interest. The common features of these studies are identified as characteristic of O — R, although the problems vary widely in subject matter and scope. Programs of courses for O — R training are offered in more than 20 universities and military schools.

Further examples of time studies and interdisciplinary studies show a trend toward broader coverage of significant factors in the operation of organizations involving men and machines. and of interactions between several systems. The problem of information handling is considered to be a basic one in future operations research.

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P. M. S. Blackett: “Studies of War,” Hill and Wang, N. Y., 1962.

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Albert G. Wilson

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Page, T. (1967). The Nature of Operations Research and its Beginnings. In: Zwicky, F., Wilson, A.G. (eds) New Methods of Thought and Procedure. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-87617-2_2

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The History and Future of Operations

• Marco Iansiti

It’s no longer just about manufacturing.

It’s time to rethink what we mean when we talk about “operations.” Operations is not only about manufacturing. Operations is and has always been what gives an organization the power to act : to create value for its customers; to capture value for its shareholders; and to share value with its ecosystem. In the era of ubiquitous digital technologies, operations empowers an increasing variety of organizations, ever more modular, connected, and distributed, ever more centered on software and data.

• Marco Iansiti is the David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he heads the Technology and Operations Management Unit and the Digital Initiative. He has advised many companies in the technology sector, including Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon. He is a coauthor (with Karim Lakhani) of the book Competing in the Age of AI (Harvard Business Review Press, 2020).

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Operations Research: History, Methodology and Applications

After reading this article you will learn about:- 1. History of Operations Research 2. Definition and Concept of Operations Research 3. Methodology 4. Applications.

History of Operations Research:

Historically, the term Operations Research originated during Second World War when U.S.A. and Great Britain’s Armed Forces sought the assistance of Scientists to solve complex and very difficult strategical and tactical problems of warfare, like making mines harmless or increasing the efficiency of antisubmarine aerial warfare, etc.

Operations research employs mathematical logic to complex problems requiring managerial decisions.

Operations research aids, in solving diverse business problems and in planning and investigation of major operational decisions.

Definition and Concept of Operations Research:

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Operations Research signifies research on operations. However, it takes into consideration a particular view of operations and a particular kind of research. Operations research is the organised application of modern science, mathematics and computer techniques to complex military, government, business or industrial problems arising in the direction and management of large systems of men, materials, money and machines.

The purpose is to provide the management with explicit quantitative understanding and assessment of complex situations; to have sounder basis for arriving at best decisions. Operations research seeks the optimum state in all spheres and thus provides optimum solution to organisational problems. It is of considerable value in Production Management.

Methodology of Operations Research:

Various steps involved are as follows:

(1) Understand the actual real situation, capture the same and define the problem.

(2) Formulate a mathematical model.

Formulate a mathematical model:

A model is of great help in facilitating the investigations of operations and operations research expresses a problem by a model. The model covers the relationship of the variables/Generally two types of models are employed. An analogue model which takes the form of an electronic circuitry or (it may be) a mechanical system. The other, called symbolic model is in the form of a matrix, a graph or an equation. This is also known as mathematical model. Models provide solutions in quantitative form (cost, weight, etc.), depending upon the problem.

Operations research models can also be classified as probabilistic and exact models. Probabilistic models rely upon the probability theory and contain obvious recognition of uncertainty. They are very useful in advertising problems. In exact models, chance or uncertainty plays a very minor role, for example, as in long range production planning with orders already in hand.

(3) Develop a mathematical solution:

Data is supplied to the model. Information is computed, and results are analysed to find the mathematical solution for alternative policies.

(4) Interpret the solution and prepare the information in such a form that it is meaningful, intelligible and quantitative translate it into a decision.

(5) Implement the decision to the real (actual) situation.

(6) Verify the results:

After applying the solution to real situation, the actual results produced by the model must be tested statistically and verified to explore any significant deviation from the expected results. If found so, the model can be modified and again the cycle is repeated (Fig. 11.1).

Applications of Operations Research:

A few applications of operations research are as under:

(a) Locating factories and warehouses to minimize transportation costs,

(b) Work allocation to machines for minimizing production time and costs,

(c) Inventory problems,

(d) Material handling,

(e) Dealing with waiting times,

(f) Equipment replacements,

(g) Dividing advertising budget,

(h) Establishing equitable bonus systems,

(i) Routing of tankers,

(j) Traffic control,

(k) Petrochemical mixes,

(l) Municipal and hospital administration, and

(m) Marketing, etc.

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