Internal OR consulting: Effective practice in a changing environment

Around 1970 some 96 percent of the largest Fortune-500 companies had established OR groups. The recessions of the '70s and '80s led many to close their groups. In 1993, the UK OR Society, disturbed by further closures, funded a study to identify factors that influenced the success and survival of internal OR groups. The study team found three categories of factors: changes in the external environment, in the organization, and in the OR group's management. This research shows that to be effective, an OR group needs good consulting skills, expert project management, active marketing of its services, and responsiveness to changes in its clients' requirements and in the surrounding organizational culture.