Feature Article—Changing the Future of Operations Research

Between 1940 and 1945, under the impetus of World War II, operations research (OR) became a recognized activity. The successes in solving many short-term and important operational problems are recorded in history. In the intervening three decades, OR has continued this short-term problem solving activity, attempted to address longer horizon, broader scope planning problems, and devoted significant effort to the development of related mathematical techniques. It is conjectured that, if it continues to pursue these directions in kind and degree, OR may lose its identity as a recognized activity and be assimilated into other fields of endeavor. This paper presents some categorical suggestions for improving practice and research to redirect the future of OR.