MS/OR projects and their interaction

An integral part of the development of MS/OR is the interaction which takes place between theory and practice. In many areas of the discipline this interaction occurs regularly and its benefits can be readily seen in the short-term. One area were this is not the case is that which surrounds the issue of projects and their management. Reflection on project experiences and their implications for future practice, by its nature, can only take place over a period which includes several peojects and leads to improve practice only slowly. This paper is based upon an opportunity to reflect upon a set of 14 project activities which have taken place over the past three years. These projects were carried out from the Centre for Community Operational Research at Hull University and represent the development of expertise and experience in dealing with a particular type of client organisation. The projects are described briefly and certain characteristics of their emergence identified. The existing literature is then reviewed in an attempt to provide an explanation of this experience. This is found to be available in two distinct themes in the literature. A model which integrates and expands this is developed and shown to yield new insights into the dynamics of projects and their management.