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"Operation Research is the application of scientific

methods techniques and tools to problems involvingthe operation of systems so as to provide those in

control of operations with optimum solutions."

ThesignificantfeaturesofO.R.aregivenbelow:

primaryORisaddressedto

managerialdecision

making

of

problem

solving.

Stepsfordecisionmakingare:

(a)Definetheproblemandestablishthecriterionwhich

willbeused.Thecriterionmaybethemaximizationof

profitsutilityandminimizationofcostsetc.

(b)Selectthealternativecoursesofactionfor

consideration.

(c)Determinethemodeltobeusedandthevaluesof

theparameters.

(d)Evaluatethealternativesandchoosetheonewhich

isoptimum.

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O.R.

employs

scientific

method

for

the

purpose

of

solvingproblem.Itisaformalizedprocessofreasoning

andconsistsofthefollowingsteps:

(a)Theproblemtobeanalyzedisdefinedclearlyandthe

conditionforobservationsaredetermined.

(b)Observations

are

made

under

varying

conditions

to

determinethebehaviorsofthesystem.

(c)Onthebasisofobservations,ahypothesisdescribing

howthevariousfactorsinvolvedarebelievedtointeract

andthebestsolutiontotheproblemisformulated.

(d)To

test

the

hypothesis,

an

experiment

is

designed

andexecuted.Observationsaremadeand

measurementsarerecorded.

(e)Finally,theresultsoftheexperimentareanalyzed

andthehypothesisiseitheracceptedorrejected.Itthe

hypothesisisaccepted,thebestsolutiontotheproblem

isobtained.

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O.R.attemptstolocatethebestoroptimalsolutionto

theproblem

under

consideration

for

this

purpose,

it

is

necessarythatameasureofeffectivenessisdefined

whichisbasedonthegoalsoftheorganization.This

measureisthenusedasthebasistocomparethe

alternativecoursesofaction.

O.R.isinterdisciplinaryinnatureandrequiresateam

approachtoasolutionoftheproblem.Thisrequires

peoplewithexpertisearetheareasofmathematics,

statistics,engineering,economics,management,

computerscienceandsoon.

Useofcomputerhasbecomeanintegralpartofthe

operationsresearchtodecisionmaking.

Thecomputermayberequiredduetothecomplexityof

themodel,

volume

of

data

requires

or

the

computations

tobemade.

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Thebasicanddominantcharacteristicfeatureof

operationsresearch

is

that

it

employs

mathematical

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.

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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. Aone-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 ?

2. Under what is the decision made?

3. What is an appropriate 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.