Operational Research and the Social SciencesS.A. Cropper, Michael C. Jackson, Paul Keys Twenty five years ago, in 1964, The Operational Research Society's first International Conference (held at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge) took as its theme "Operational Research and the Social Sciences". The Conference sessions were organised around topics such as: Organisations and Control; Social Effects of Policies; Conflict Resolution; The Systems Concept; Models, Decisions and Operational Research. An examination of the published proceedings (J.R.Lawrence ed., 1966, Operational Research and the Social Sciences, Tavistock, London) reveals a distinct contrast between the types of contribution made by the representatives of the two academic communities involved. Nevertheless, the Conference served to break down some barriers, largely of ignorance about the objects, methods and findings of each concern. In the ensuing twenty five years, although debate has continued about the relationship between OR and the social sciences, mutual understanding has proved more difficult to achieve than many must have hoped for in 1964. |
Contents
3 | |
13 | |
19 | |
Fundamental Thoughts 3365 | 35 |
Social Sciences for 0 | 41 |
Operational Research as Negotiation | 43 |
The Visibility of Social Systems | 51 |
Threat or Opportunity | 59 |
Introduction | 405 |
Understanding | 415 |
A Case Study | 421 |
The Organisation as an Information System | 427 |
A Case Study | 433 |
An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Building | 439 |
Information Systems and Operational Research | 445 |
Operational Research Applications in Information | 451 |
From Soft Systems | 65 |
Critical Heuristics of Social Systems Design | 79 |
Social Science or Barbarism? | 89 |
On Technical Pragmatic and Ethical Action | 97 |
Introduction | 107 |
P S Agrell | 111 |
A Critique | 117 |
Autoreflexive Algondonic Looping of Pedagogic | 133 |
O R the Social Sciences and PolicyMaking | 151 |
Operations | 159 |
A Scientific Approach to Methodology | 177 |
The Application of the Theory of Directed Graphs | 183 |
Applying the Data Dictionary Concept to Models | 189 |
Experiments | 195 |
Institutions and Intelligent Systems | 201 |
Poverty and NonFarm Employment in LDCs | 213 |
Introduction | 221 |
What a Mess The Case of the Necessary Myth | 231 |
On the Concept of Mess | 241 |
From Measurement and Control to Learning | 253 |
Is Speaking Man an Ethical Creature? | 259 |
Invention of Master System as Distinct from | 265 |
The Social System of National Health Care | 271 |
Introduction | 287 |
Their Critical Scrutiny | 293 |
The Challenge of the New Organisation | 305 |
Project Based Work Groups and the Organisation | 311 |
New Paradigm Research as Part of a Holistic | 319 |
Production Planning Systems for Corporations with | 325 |
A Framework for the Design of Effective Structures | 337 |
Changing Social Change | 349 |
Introduction | 359 |
Planning as Responsible Scheming | 367 |
An Application of Utility Function Theory | 373 |
Computer Supported Decision Making System | 385 |
Pragmatic Structures for Social Interaction | 391 |
A Structuring Approach in Designing Information | 457 |
R and RuleBased Expert Systems | 463 |
Introduction | 471 |
A Case | 479 |
Toward a Stakeholder Paradigm in Corporate | 485 |
Assessing Economic Inequality | 491 |
Optimal Scaling for Ordered Categories | 497 |
Introduction | 505 |
Modelling Social Behaviour in Management Education | 513 |
Qualitative and Quantitative Models of Social | 519 |
A Formal Representation of Interorganisational | 525 |
Simulating | 531 |
On Leadership and Effective Control in Police | 537 |
A Study | 547 |
An Experimental Investigation of Subjective | 553 |
Introduction | 561 |
Strategic Premise Setting as Ideological | 573 |
Ethical Operational | 579 |
Waste Management Planning in an English County | 591 |
Conflict Management in Cooperative Games | 597 |
Conflict Resolution in Group Decision Making | 603 |
Managing the 0 | 613 |
The Use of Philosophy and Psychology by | 625 |
The Use of Probability Axioms for Evaluating | 641 |
Models and Executive Decision Makers | 647 |
A Synthesis of Descriptive and Prescriptive | 653 |
Quality of Working Life and Organisational | 667 |
Routinisation of Work and the Quality of Working | 679 |
Operational Research and Project Control | 685 |
Introduction | 693 |
PostIndustrialism Post Modernity and 0 R | 703 |
Play and Organisations | 709 |
As if it Mattered Anyway A Requiem | 715 |
721 | |
Other editions - View all
Operational Research and the Social Sciences S.A. Cropper,Michael Jackson,Paul Keys No preview available - 2013 |
Operational Research and the Social Sciences S.A. Cropper,Michael Jackson,Paul Keys No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
Ackoff action activity actors analysis applied approach argued Autopoiesis behavioural science boundary judgments Checkland cognitive Cognitive Mapping communication complex concept concerned conflict context cost critical Critical Theory decision decision analysis decision-making defined digraph discussion dominant economic effective environment ethical evaluation example experience expert system forecasting formal function goals Goldratt Habermas hard systems human implementation individual information systems interaction interdisciplinarity involved issues Jackson knowledge linear programming London Management Science means measure methods negotiation normative objective Operational Research optimal organisation organization paper paradigm participants perspective planning political possible postmodernism practice procedures production programming rational relationship relevant response role scientific scientists simulation social science society soft systems soft systems methodology solution strategy structure systems methodology systems thinking techniques theory understanding University values variables