INTRODUCCIN A LA INVESTIGACIN DE

OPERACIONES
Material tomado del sitio: https://www.informs.org/, (pulsa sobre este vnculo
para acceder y explorarlo). Todas las palabras o frases que encuentres en azul
son vnculos a ms informacin en ste y otros sitios.

What is Operations Research?

Operations Research (O.R.), or operational research in the U.K, is a discipline
that deals with the application of advanced analytical methods to help make
better decisions. The terms management science and analytics are
sometimes used as synonyms for operations research.

Employing techniques from other mathematical sciences, such as

mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, and mathematical optimization,
operations research arrives at optimal or near-optimal solutions to complex
decision-making problems.

Operations research overlaps with other disciplines, notably industrial

engineering and operations management. It is often concerned with
determining a maximum (such as profit, performance, or yield) or minimum
(such as loss, risk, or cost).

Operations research encompasses a wide range of problem-solving techniques

and methods applied in the pursuit of improved decision-making and
efficiency, such as simulation, mathematical optimization, queuing theory,
Markov decision processes, economic methods, data analysis, statistics,
neural networks, expert systems, and decision analysis. Nearly all of these
techniques involve the construction of mathematical models that attempt to
describe the system.
Because of the computational and statistical nature of most of these fields,
O.R. also has strong ties to computer science. Operations researchers faced
with a new problem must determine which of these techniques are most
appropriate given the nature of the system, the goals for improvement, and
constraints on time and computing power.

The major sub-disciplines in modern operations research, as identified by the

INFORMS journal Operations Research, are:

Computing and information technologies

Environment, energy, and natural resources
Financial Engineering
Manufacturing, service science, and supply chain management
Marketing Science
Policy modeling and public sector work
 Revenue management
Simulation
Stochastic models
Transportation.
History
As a formal discipline, operations research originated in the efforts of military
planners during World War II. In the decades after the war, the techniques
began to be applied more widely to problems in business, industry and
society. Today, operations research is used by virtually every business and
government throughout the world and remains an active area of academic
research.

What is Management Science?

Management science (MS), is an interdisciplinary branch of applied
mathematics, engineering and sciences that uses various scientific research-
based principles, strategies, and analytical methods including mathematical
modeling, statistics and algorithms to improve an organization's ability to
enact rational and meaningful management decisions. The discipline is
typically concerned with maximizing profit, assembly line performance, crop
yield, bandwidth, etc or minimizing expenses, loss, risk, etc.

Overview
Management science is concerned with a number of different areas of study
including developing and applying models and concepts that may prove useful
in helping to illuminate management issues and solve problems. Management
science research can be done on three levels:
A fundamental level that lies in three mathematical disciplines:
probability, optimization, and dynamic systems theory,

A modeling level that builds models, gathers data, and analyzes them
mathematically, and
An application level, just as any other engineering discipline that has
strong aspirations to make a practical impact in the real world.

Some of the fields that are included in Management Science are:

 <
Data mining < Optimization
<
Decision analysis < Probability and statistics

Engineering < Project management

Forecasting < Simulation

Game theory < Social network

Industrial engineering Transportation forecasting

<
models

Logistics < Supply chain management

Mathematical modeling <

as well as
many others.

Applications
Applications of management science are abundant in industry such as airlines,
manufacturing companies, service organizations, military branches, and in
government. The range of problems and issues to which management science
has contributed insights and solutions is vast. It includes:

Scheduling airlines, both planes and crew,

Deciding the appropriate place to place new facilities such as a warehouse or
factory,
Managing the flow of water from reservoirs,
Identifying possible future development paths for parts of the
telecommunications industry,
Establishing the information needs and appropriate systems to supply them
within the health service, and
Identifying and understanding the strategies adopted by companies for their
information systems.

What is Analytics?
Analytics is defined as the scientific process of transforming data into insight
for making better decisions.

Learn what you need to know about analytics:

What analytics is and how it is unique.
What it can do for you the value it hass delivered for others, and signs you
could benefit.
How to start using it, including identifying the opportunity and structuring a
 project.
Finding an analytics professional with the expertise you and your
organization need.
For a series of videos explaining how you can use analytics, go to Using
Analytics at Your Company: Tips from Leading Corporations.
For a condensed version of this site that you can print out to read any time,
download the Executive Guide to Analytics.

In a nutshell, analytics is the scientific process of transforming data into

insight for making better decisions.

By using techniques such as mathematical modeling to analyze complex

situations, analytics gives executives the power to make more effective
decisions and build more productive systems based on:

More complete data

Consideration of all available options
Careful predictions of outcomes and estimates of risk
The latest decision tools and techniques
A uniquely powerful approach to decision making

Youve probably seen dozens of articles and ads about solutions that claim to
enhance your decision-making capabilities.

Analytics is unique. It's best of breed, employing highly developed methods

practiced by specially trained professionals. Its powerful, using advanced
tools and technologies to provide analytical power that no ordinary software
or spreadsheet can deliver out of the box. And its tailored to you, because
analytics offers you the ability to define your specific challenge in ways that
make the most of your data and uncover your most beneficial options

To achieve these results, analytics professionals draw upon the latest

analytical technologies, including:

Simulation Giving you the ability to try out approaches and test ideas for
improvement.
Optimization Narrowing your choices to the very best when there are
virtually innumerable feasible options and comparing them is difficult.
Probability and Statistics Helping you measure risk, mine data to find
valuable connections and insights, test conclusions, and make reliable
forecasts.

Analytics has enhanced organizations and experiences all around us. From
better scheduling of airline crews to the design of waiting lines at Disney
theme parks. From two-person start-ups to Fortune 500 leaders. From global
resource planning decisions to picking better baseball players. All benefit
directly from analytics. Shouldn't you?
To learn more about what analyticsis and how it works, go to More Resources.

Ready to find out how analytics can create significant value to you and your
organization? Go to What It Can Do for You.