On Consultancy with the help of Operations Research. Effects and Effectiveness

Summary

The application of OR in business firms can be found at different levels: in operations management as well as in tactical or even strategic decision-making. Several examples will be given, but mathematical or IT-oriented issues of the solutions developed are not the main topic. We merely focus on the organizational and environmental conditions that influence the degree to which OR can succesfully contribute. Here ‘successfully’ primarily refers to satisfaction and quality as perceived by clients. The main contribution is the interpretation of OR projects as a consultancy process. As a result a list of essentially non-technical requirements (skills, behaviour) can be stated. We end up with the following paradox. Suppose one approaches an OR project according to the standard sequence of stages of traditional operational research (more or less like in SDM). Now the ‘implementation phase’ is planned almost at the end of the project. From a consultancy point of view, however, implementation should be taken care of from the very beginning of the project.