Reconsidering the philosophical basis of OR/MS
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Meredith, JR
署名单位：
Wake Forest University
刊物名称：
OPERATIONS RESEARCH
ISSN/ISSBN：
0030-364X
DOI：
10.1287/opre.49.3.325.11213
发表日期：
2001
页码：
325-333
关键词：
摘要：
Many in Operations Research/Management Science (OR/MS) have long predicted a major contraction in the field. Given the recent trends in OR/MS hiring. this contraction may have finally arrived, both in academia, as well as in industry. This study maintains that part of this contraction is because we drifted from the field's broad, real-world roots due to a limited philosophical foundation of the field, our realist view of reality. If our commonly held realist philosophy has, in the ironic fashion described herein, given rise to the academic drift in the field, the recognition of a relativist philosophy that emphasizes understanding over problem solving could help return the field to its roots.