Enhancing management's understanding of operational research models

The problem of the gap between management's understanding of a model and the model builder's insight is a large one. This problem continues to challenge the practice of operational research and plague contemporary modelling efforts. This paper offers an approach to enhancing a manager's understanding of the model with respect to an application. It sets out a procedure whereby (a) the reasons for the management's judgements are uncovered, and (b) the sources of disagreement with the recommendations obtained from the model are identified. The manager, learning from the model, may then change his or her judgements. Alternatively, the model builder may modify the model parameters or assumptions, leading to convergent understanding. The procedure is based on the framework of social judgement theory. An illustrative example is offered in the context of facility planning in the cement manufacturing industry.