The organizational context of Operational Research OR group management

There have been several attempts to identify the process by which Operational Research OR groups can be successfully managed. These share a common underlying view that the important factor in this process is the creation of a satisfactory relationship between the members of a group and the management of the group’s host organization. In this paper it is argued that whilst this is a key factor to concentrate upon this alone leads to a restrictive view of what it means for an Operational Research OR group to belong to an organization. A means of developing a broader vision of the relationship between an Operational Research OR group and its host organization is presented which has implications for the process of managing of Operational Research OR groups.