Reconsidering the philosophical basis of OR/MS

Reconsidering the philosophical basis of OR/MS

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Article ID: iaor20022090
Country: United States
Volume: 49
Issue: 3
Start Page Number: 325
End Page Number: 333
Publication Date: May 2001
Journal: Operations Research
Authors:
Keywords: research
Abstract:

Many in Operations Research/Management Science (OR/MS) have long predicted a major contraction in the field. Given the recent trends in OR/MS hiring, this contraction may have finally arrived, both in academia, as well as in industry. This study maintains that part of this contraction is because we drifted from the field's broad, real-world roots due to a limited philosophical foundation of the field, our realist view of reality. If our commonly held realist philosophy has, in the ironic fashion described herein, given rise to the ‘academic drift’ in the field, the recognition of a relativist philosophy that emphasizes understanding over problem solving could help return the field to its roots.

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