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Supporting strategy : a survey of UK OR/MS practitioners

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O'Brien, Frances A.. (2011) Supporting strategy : a survey of UK OR/MS practitioners. Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol.62 (No.5). pp. 900-920. ISSN 0160-5682

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Abstract

This paper reports the results of an on-line survey conducted with practitioner members of the UK Operational Research (OR) Society. The purpose of the survey was to explore the current practice of supporting strategy in terms of activities supported and tools used. The results of the survey are compared to those of previous surveys to explore developments in, inter-alia, the use of management/strategy tools and „soft‟ Operational Research / Management Science (OR/MS) tools. The survey results demonstrate that OR practitioners actively support strategy within their organisations. Whilst a wide variety of tools, drawn from the OR/MS and management / strategy fields are used to support strategy within organisations, the findings suggest that soft OR/MS tools are not regularly used. The findings also demonstrate that tools are combined to support strategy from both within and across the OR/MS and management / strategy fields. The paper ends by identifying a number of areas for further research.

Item Type: Journal Article
Alternative Title: Supporting strategy : a survey of UK Operational Research / Management Science practitioners
Subjects: T Technology > T Technology (General)
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Operations research -- Great Britain, Strategic planning -- Great Britain, Organizational effectiveness -- Great Britain, Management -- Research -- Great Britain
Journal or Publication Title: Journal of the Operational Research Society
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
ISSN: 0160-5682
Date: December 2011
Volume: Vol.62
Number: No.5
Page Range: pp. 900-920
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Open Access
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URI: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/2896

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