Bryer, R. A. (1977) Theoretical foundations of operational research. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The conclusions of both Parts One and Two complement and reinforce each
other. After outlining the ideals of OR, I set out in Part One to find and
scrutinize the philosophical foundations upon which some leading operations
researchers have claimed that these ideals could be implemented. In
chapters 2, 3, and 4 I argue that adopting (respectively) the positivist,
conventionalist and/or idealist philosophies as the theoretical foundations
upon which to build an adequate theory of inquiry for the purposes of
OR would force it to abandon its ideals. These philosophies are interpreted
as attempts on the part of academic operational researchers to stave-off
the open-ended ambiguity and anarchy of inquiry which an unqualified
interpretation of OR's ideals could engender. These attempts to give
substance to the ideals of OR all exert a strong bias against raising
questions about the nature of the subject-matter with which OR deals,
and it in largely on these grounds that they are rejected in chapter
5 because of the implications which this has for the ideals of OR.
One conclusion of Part One is that OR needs protection from such
philosophies, and that a realist-type alternative at least provides this.
I conclude by raising the doubt whether philosophy can provide much more to
OR. The other major conclusion is that OR needs to understand its subject-matter
before it can reasonably hope to implement its ideals.
Given the general bias which we find in Part One against seriously
considering the subject-matter of OR, we enter Part Two with some trepidation.
Notwithstanding the philosophical bias against it, it is clear
that OR must have a conception of the nature of its subject-matter. However,
OR's ideals can just as easily be lost by inadequate attention to this
task. In Part Two the biases discovered in Part One come home to roost.
The first attempt to provide the ideals of OR with a substance on the
basis of which its ideals can be implemented in an objective fray turns out
to be just that, i.e., metaphysical 'substance' in the guise of a theory
of management. We see in chapter 6 that to the extent to which this
theory moves beyond merely asserting that management would 'take care' of
OR's need for an objective basis, it presupposes a social theory which
would show how social systems by their nature (if properly constructed)
embody this objectivity. This move is foreshadowed in chapter 3 where we
see Kuhn (who is taken as an exemplar of conventionalist philosophy) finally
resorting to this device to prop up his conventionalism, against the
growing weight of subjectivity under which it threatened to sag into the
jaws of positivism. The social theory on which such claims rest is given
detailed consideration in. chapter 7.
In chapter 7 I give serious consideration to the possibility that
OR's social theory, if it has one at all, will be developed in reaction
to what it sees as the "problem of order", because this problem can be
seen as but another way of stating its ideals in a specifically social
way. Stating OR ideals in this way orients them directly to at least one
aspect of the question of the nature of OR's subject-matter. We see that
by employing, Durkheim's account of and solution to the social problem of
order as a basis for comparison with OR (first as a homomorphism. and later as
an isomorphism) that we are able to gain quite a firm grip on OR's social
theory (and, hence, its grasp of its subject-matter). We see that this theory,
although providing a justification for OR's theory of management (especially
in its modern form), it is itself inadequate. The basis of the inadequacy,
most fundamentally, is that the theory in question presupposes the very thing,
that should be in question, namely, the nature of the social collective. I
conclude with a specific illustration of the impact of this theory on the ideal
of OR by analysing the inadequate treatment of power and conflict which it allows.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics T Technology > T Technology (General)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Operations research -- Philosophy
Official Date:	September 1977
Dates:	Date Event September 1977 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Industrial and Business Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Kistruck, J. R. S. ; Bevan, R. G.
Extent:	[10], 347, [10] p.
Language:	eng

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