OPERATIONS RESEARCH

PRESENTED BY
GROUP 3

MEMBER
ALEJANDRO, SHANAIA GLAZE ANN M.
ALVARO, ANGEL MAE M.

MARCH 2024
OBJECTIVES
  To find the best solution for any problem.
 To develop more effective approaches to the programming
 To learn about management and administration of socio-cultural and economic factors that exist as
bottleneck to effective implementation

INTRODUCTION

Operations research attempts to provide those who manage organized systems with an objective
and quantitative basis for decision; it is normally carried out by teams of scientists and engineers drawn
from a variety of disciplines. Thus, operations research is not a science itself but rather the application of
science to the solution of managerial and administrative problems, and it focuses on the performance of
organized systems taken as a whole rather than on their parts taken separately.

Today, Operations Research remains a vital component of management science, providing

valuable insights and solutions to organizations seeking to improve their operations and competitiveness in
an ever-changing global landscape.

HISTORY

The beginning of the modern operations research took place during World War I when science
was used as a way to enhance military operations in England, when the British army needed help to
reinforce their air and navy forces. In 1917 and as Germany increased the attacks on Britain’s supply lines
resulting in destroying an average of one ten ships, causing big losses in lives and supply line disruptions,
and to face this situation, Britain’s army gathered scientists to help avoid or reduce the damage caused by
the Germans. Scientists optimized convoy size, speed, and timing to reduce losses. After World War II,
operations research was integrated into all kinds of sectors and widely applied to solve problems in
infrastructures, health care systems, transport and supply, business, industry, and banking to name a few.
The use of operations research quickly increased because of its incredible effectiveness with real-life
decision-making problems.

WHAT IS OPERATIONS RESEARCH?

  Is the scientific study of operations for the purpose of making decisions
 Also known as Management Science because it uses scientific methodology to study systems
whose design or operation requires human decision-making.
 “the science of better”
 Determines optimal solutions for real-life decision-making problems.

APPLICATIONS OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH

 Project Planning
- The goal is to optimize the sequence of tasks and activities in a project to minimize delays and
ensure the project's completion time is minimized.

 Facility localization and Urban Planning

- The goal is to find the most suitable location for facilities, considering factors like transportation
efficiency, distance from housing, and competition.

 Supply Chain Management

- This strategy optimizes raw product supply for industries like food, factories, and supermarkets
to meet client demand, avoid shortages, and minimize waste, thereby maximizing served
demand and reducing costs.

 Transporting
- Operations research optimizes freight transportation to reduce delivery time and customer
satisfaction.

 Scheduling
- Operations research uses mathematical methods to determine optimal scheduling for tasks,
events, and transport flow in the modern world.

CHARATERISTICS OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH

 OR as an decision-making approach
 - All organizations are faced with situations where they need to select the best available
alternative to solve a problem. OR techniques help managers in obtaining optimal solutions for
their problems.

 OR as a scientific approach
- OR uses multiple scientific models along with tools and techniques to resolve complex
problems while eliminating individual biasness. The scientific method involves observing and
defining a problem, formulating and testing the hypothesis and analyzing the results of the test.
The results of the test determine whether the hypothesis should be accepted or rejected.

 OR as a computer-based approach
- OR solves business problems using mathematical models, manipulating large amount of data
and performing computations on these large data sets. It is almost impossible to do such
computations and manipulations manually. Therefore, most OR-based problems are solved
using computers.

SOME TOOLS OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH

 Linear Programming
- Organizations use the Linear Programming (LP) technique to determine the optimal solutions
that may be defined as either most profitable or least cost solutions. Businesses use LP
techniques to assign jobs to machines, select product mix, select advertising media, select an
investment portfolio, etc.

 Simulation
- Simulation is another important OR tool wherein an expert construct a model that replicates a
real business scenario. Simulation is extremely useful in cases where actual market testing is
risky or impossible due to various reasons such as high expenditure.
 Statistics
- Allows an organization to evaluate the risks present in all the domains of the business. It
enables an organization to predict future trends and thus makes informed business decisions.
The OR team compares different trade-offs and chooses the best alternative.
  Queuing Theory
- Using this tool, the expected number of people waiting in line, expected waiting time, expected
idle time for the server and so on can be calculated. Queuing theory can be used to solve
problems related to traffic congestion, repair and maintenance of broken machines, air traffic
scheduling and control, scheduling bank counters, etc.

 Non-Linear Programming
- Similar to linear problems except that they have at least one non-linear function or constraint.
Non-linear models become useful in cases where the objective function of some of the
constraints is not linear in nature.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Operations Research (OR): defined as the science that aims for the application of analytical and
numerical techniques along with information technology to solve organizational problems.

Quantitative Analysis: Employing data and mathematical models to understand a system's behavior.

Management Science: A term often used interchangeably with OR, emphasizing its application in
business and management contexts. It highlights using scientific methods to improve decision-making and
optimize resource allocation within organizations.

Decision-making approach: OR techniques are also used by managers to understand the problems at
hand in a better manner and make effective decisions.

Scientific approach: The scientific method involves observing and defining a problem, formulating and
testing the hypothesis and analyzing the results of the test.

Computer-based approach: OR solves business problems using mathematical models, manipulating

large amount of data and performing computations on these large data sets.

Linear programming: Organizations use the Linear Programming (LP) technique to determine the optimal
solutions that may be defined as either most profitable or least cost solutions.

Simulation: Simulation is extremely useful in cases where actual market testing is risky or impossible due
to various reasons such as high expenditure.
Statistics: Statistics allows an organization to evaluate the risks present in all the domains of the business.
It enables an organization to predict future trends and thus makes informed business decisions.

Queuing theory: Using this tool, the expected number of people waiting in line, expected waiting time,
expected idle time for the server and so on can be calculated.

Non-linear programming: A non-linear programming is used for making optimal decisions in the
production process, optimizing fractionated protocols in cancer radiotherapy, training recurrent neural
networks in time series prediction problems, etc.

CONCLUSION

Operations research is an important discipline and science to incorporate into every business and
many fields, and because decision-making is necessary, crucial, and a key step in today's world,
operations research has earned the title of the art of problem-solving and decision making, allowing the
world to reap the benefits by integrating the science of doing better in every aspect possible.

RECOMMENDATION

This recommendation emphasizes the importance of operations research (OR) in management

science, particularly in optimizing decision-making processes across multiple sectors. Organizations that
embrace OR methodologies can increase their efficiency, profitability, and resilience in today's dynamic
business environment.

REFERENCES

Gahwai, D. (2014, April 29). Operational research [Slide show]. SlideShare.

https://www.slideshare.net/dharmendragahwai/operational-reseach

ms-academy. (2021, May 20). Operations Research: The Science Of Doing Better. Math Academy.
https://www.mathacademytutoring.com/blog/operations-research-the-science-of-doing-better

Operations research | Definition, History, Examples, Characteristics, & Facts. (2024, March 14).
Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/operations-research/Resource-allocation
Team, G. (2022, July 20). What is Operations Research (OR)? Definition, Concept, Characteristics, Tools,
Advantages, Limitations, Geektonight. https://www.geektonight.com/operations-research/