The use of operational research tools: A survey of Operational Research practitioners in the UK

Given the importance of understanding decision making processes within organizations, studies of the attitudes of Operational Research practitioners towards specific aspects of their work is a neglected area of research. This paper furnishes an account of a questionnaire-based survey of industrially based Operational Research OR practitioners selected from the membership of the Operational Research Society. The objective of the study is to assess the views of Operational Research OR practitioners regarding the modelling and problem solving tools that are available to them. In particular, the issues of technique selection, the treatment of uncertainty, and the perceived contribution of Operational Research to decision issues are investigated. Results form the survey contribute towards both a greater understanding of Operational Research OR practitioners’ perspectives on the decision support process and the development of a profile of the membership of the Operational Research OR Society.