Reconciling Rigor Versus Relevance: Lessons from Humanitarian Fleet Management

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Schaumann, Sarah K.; Thakur-Weigold, Bublu; Van Wassenhove, Luk N.
• 署名单位: Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich; INSEAD Business School
• 刊物名称: PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1059-1478
• DOI: 10.1177/10591478241245977
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 1306-1319
• 关键词: Kuhnian crisis; problem structuring method; humanitarian fleet management; operations strategy; engaged scholarship

摘要

This position paper reframes the ongoing relevance versus rigor debate in operations research (OR) as a Kuhnian epistemological crisis, in which the dominant paradigm of quantitative modeling shows signs of exhaustion. Humanitarian fleet management is presented as an empirical case of extensive operations theory, which has not been implemented by the stakeholders who paid for its production. We propose a possible way out of the crisis by combining hard and soft OR, illustrating the potential with a selected problem structuring method. Optimization solutions can become more productive by first surfacing the organizational context of decision-making. The illustration emphasizes that hard and soft OR are not binary opposites but interlocking, mutually empowering components which expand the evidence base. Shifting the current paradigm toward more engaged scholarship could counteract the ongoing theoretical drift, for more strategic impact on the pressing problems of today.