Extending OR - Theoretical grounding

Rosenhead's (1986) initiative with COR: Community Operations Research seeks to enrich OR methodology by bringing it into contact with the different sorts of problem faced by community organizations.

Jackson (1988) proposed Enhanced OR; a broader conception of OR embracing, for example, systems analysis, cybernetics and soft systems thinking as well as the classical methodology and techniques. The incentive was to make it relevant to ill-structured problems of the kind found in helping community groups, at the strategic level in organizations and in tackling social issues.

According to Jackson (1990) "this whole tradition of work aims to rescue OR from identification with a limited range of mathematical techniques-an image it acquired during the 'dreary sixties', and which so depressed early pioneers of the subject, such as Churchman and Ackoff.

References

• Jackson, M. C. (1988) Some methodologies for community operational research. J. Opl Res. Soc. 39, 715-724.
• Rosenhead, J. (1986) Custom and practice. J. Opl Res. Soc. 37, 335-343.