Problems in applying Soft OR methods to climate actions: lessons from two cases of governmental use

Putting Soft OR Methods to Work: Information Systems Strategy Development at Richards Bay

BackgroundBusiness process modelling is increasingly used not only by the companies’ management but also by scientists dealing with process models. Process modeling is seldom done without decision-making nodes, which is why operational research methods are increasingly included in the process analyses.ObjectiveThis systematic literature review aimed to provide a detailed and comprehensive description of the relevant aspects of used operational research techniques in Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) model.MethodsThe Web Of Science of Clarivate Analytics was searched for 128 studies of that used operation research techniques and business process model and notation, published in English between 1 January 2004 and 18 May 2020. The inclusion criteria were as follows: Use of Operational Research methods in conjunction with the BPMN, and is available in full-text format. Articles were not excluded based on methodological quality. The background information of the included studies, as well as specific information on the used approaches, were extracted.ResultsIn this research, thirty-six studies were included and considered. A total of 11 specific methods falling into the field of Operations Research have been identified, and their use in connection with the process model was described.ConclusionOperational research methods are a useful complement to BPMN process analysis. It serves not only to analyze the probability of the process, its economic and personnel demands but also for process reengineering.

This paper reports on the use of a quantitative system dynamics simulation model building process that followed on from a ‘soft OR’ strategy making intervention with a top management team. The work was carried out for the Chief Constable and top team of a UK police force. The output of the ‘soft OR’ strategy making process provided the reason for, and so focus of, the simulation model. The focus of the strategic conversation was on exploring the tension between the supply of resources (in this case police officers) and the demands placed on those officers. The project involved a series of strategic conversations with members of the top team that were stimulated through the process of building a system dynamics model. The process was facilitated by two modellers—one focussing on managing the strategic enquiry, while the other considered the implications of the conversation for the construction of the system dynamics model. Through the process of gradually building the system dynamics model, a number of issues and lessons were raised for the development and delivery of effective strategy making and the strategic management of public organisations. In addition there were implications for operational research model building processes, especially when operating at senior levels and within a strategic context.

Operational research plays a major role in improving the profitability of British Airways (BA), which is the largest, and one of the most successful, international airlines in the world. This study explores the knowledge and facilitation conceptions held by operational research consultants in BA in supporting the decisions and management processes of their internal “clients”. Ten consultants, who were deemed experts in soft OR, were interviewed in order to examine the knowledge they used in helping their clients to manage decisions and change. The findings suggest that while the fundamental ethos of analytical rigour characterises the world‐view that the OR consultants adopt, it may be the modifications to techniques and practices that consultants make in intuitive and creative ways that secure their effectiveness.

Part 1 Putting knowledge-based systems in context: artificial intelligence - a brief overview knowledge-based systems other fruits of AI research an applications point of view differences between KBS's and conventional computer systems. Part 2 Knowledge-based systems - a solution in search of a problem?: what sort of problems may be addressed using KBS's what factors determine an application's suitability for a KBS approach? operational KBS's the key features of KBS construction. Part 3 KBS/AI concepts and tools: KBS concepts tools used to build KBS's - an overview knowledge acquisition knowledge representation system execution - for the knowledge engineer system execution - for the end-user maintenance. Part 4 Conventional software engineering: why are structured development methods relevant to KBS's? the conventional systems development life-cycle (SDLC) and formal methods extensions to the SDLC prototyping for decision support systems prototyping for non-DSS's contrasting features of DP and KB system development prototyping in KBS development. Part 5 ORSA methodology: why worry about the business objectives? what is operational research? a soft OR methodology soft systems methodology soft methodologies in general. Part 6 Lessons from other KBS work: current KBS development methodology - the textbook view AI methodology compared with DP methodologies a project management perspective. Part 7 The Intellipse experience: the original project specification - the main project phase the key changes to the proposal the concept of Intellipse functional specification the task compraring SSD Intellipse architecture knowledge bases is SSD a suitable domain for KBS's? advisor designer. Part 8 Measuring the success of a knowledge-based system : Why measure the success? what needs to be done? how to measure the success-sources of inspiration how to measure the success of a KBS-our recommendations. Part 9 A methodology for the practical engineering of knowledge-based systems: a POLITE engineering methodology for KBSs' standards for the POLITE methodology-the ITAM investigation POLITE in action.

‘Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.’ (HG Wells)This is a very significant point in time for the development of soft OR and its contribution to OR as a who...

The paper describes applications of Operations Research (OR) theory and techniques used to solve various types of social problems occurring in our social system. Social systems analysis has for quite some time been the main analytical and scientific approach used to investigate systems and to solve various problems related to modern social systems, including industry, business, the military, public administration, politics, and society in general. We will present here three major roles that operations research (OR) and social systems analysis (SSA) technique have played both practically and theoretically in the solution of social systems problems since it was developed almost 60 years ago. Firstly, we explain briefly OR, SSA, and public policy (PP) regarding what they are, how OR can be contributing to SSA and PP, and how traditional academic disciplines are related each other with the SSA. Secondly, we introduce several examples of the quantitative data analysis, which we have investigated in our school (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies) to solve various types of social problems including population, traffic and accident, higher education policy, energy policy, and agriculture policy data analyses. Thirdly, we give mathematical modeling analysis with its application to the optimal location model analysis for integrating promotion branch offices in the local government. Fourthly, as an important role of OR as a theory building analysis technique, we explain two problems of apportionment problem and shortest path counting problem. Finally, in the summary section future perspectives of OR are given.

The problem of global climate change is one of the most important problems of society. Such relevance is due to the fact that the change in climatic parameters has a significant impact on the economic sphere, the ecological situation, social and political life, and the construction industry. The change in the parameters of climate systems has long been beyond doubt. In recent years, due to the perceived threat of global climate warming, interest in long-term interannual climate fluctuations has increased significantly. Therefore, one of the unquestionably relevant tasks is the monitoring of trends in changes in climatic indicators at the local (regional) level. It is these observations on a regional scale that allow us to detect cyclical fluctuations in meteorological values and further judge the change in the Earth's climate in general. When building urban quarters in difficult natural and climatic conditions, along with urban planning and architectural and planning methods of organizing residential structures, one of the key points is the correct selection of fencing materials and structures. Special attention should be paid to their physical properties, thermal conductivity, specific resistance, optical reflectivity, etc. It is also necessary to take into account the location of the construction site, because due to macro- and micro-scale climate-forming factors (radiation conditions, wind regime, form of meso- and microrelief, vegetation, soil, close proximity to the sea, surrounding buildings, etc.) and their due to joint influence in different areas of the city, the difference in temperature and humidity can be significant. The article examines the peculiarities of the manifestation of climatic changes for the city of Kyiv in the context of engineering and construction adaptation and the selection of building materials to create more comfortable living conditions for the residents of the metropolis. It was established that during the last decades in the city the average annual air temperature increased by 0.7–1.2°С, compared to the climatic norm. The most significant increase in the average monthly air temperature in the modern period in the city is observed in the winter and summer months. According to calculations, the average annual temperature will rise gradually and increase by an average of 2.0–2.5°С. On the basis of this, the necessity of conducting further research, creating scientific and practical recommendations, especially in the conditions of modern megacities, which are a factor in climate formation, has been proven. The article analyzes the impact of changes in climatic factors on the life cycle of buildings.

Operations Research has a successful tradition of applying mathematical analysis to a wide range of applications, and problems in Medical Physics have been popular over the last couple of decades. The original application was in the optimal design of the uence map for a radiotherapy treatment, a problem that has continued to receive attention. However, Operations Research has been applied to other clinical problems like patient scheduling, vault design, and image alignment. The overriding theme of this article is to present how techniques in Operations Research apply to clinical problems, which we accomplish in three parts. First, we present the perspective from which an operations researcher addresses a clinical problem. Second, we succinctly introduce the underlying methods that are used to optimize a system, and third, we demonstrate how modern software facilitates problem design. Our discussion is supported by several publications to foster continued study. With numerous clinical, medical, and managerial decisions associated with a clinic, operations research has a promising future at improving how radiotherapy treatments are designed and delivered.

During the existence of our planet, thanks to various climatic transformations, the plant appearance and animal world of the Earth were formed, including the adaptation of man to these natural and climatic conditions. As far as the climate is favorable, the person correctly and orderly carries out his life in various sectors of the economy and industry. Of course, many living conditions of a person depend on the climate, his need for comfort of temperature values in residential structures and, in fact, in those resources (fuel and energy), without which it is impossible to exist in the modern world. Climatology has received a powerful impetus due to the increased public interest in the problem of climate change (or, more generally, the problem of climate). And this is easily explained, since the climate is one of the most important components of the life support system on the planet. And, paradoxically, society expects scientists to make accurate forecasts, not only for the near future, but for the entire 21st century.

The operations research is probably one of the most successful field of applied mathematics used in economics, physics, chemistry, almost everywhere where one has to analyze huge amounts of data. Lately, these techniques of operations research were introduced in biology, especially in the protein analysis area to support biologists. The fast growth of protein data makes operations research an important issue in bioinformatics, a science which lays on the border between computer science and biology. This paper gives a short overview of the operations research techniques currently used to support structural and functional analysis of proteins.

This review paper provides an in-depth exploration of optimization techniques in Operations Research (OR), highlighting their significance, recent advancements, challenges, and future directions. Operations Research utilizes mathematical and analytical methods to optimize decision-making processes across various industries. The paper begins with an overview of OR, discussing its definition, scope, and historical development. It then delves into the fundamentals of optimization, covering different types of optimization problems and algorithms. Classical optimization techniques such as Linear Programming, Integer Programming, and Nonlinear Programming are discussed, followed by an exploration of heuristic and metaheuristic optimization techniques including Genetic Algorithms, Simulated Annealing, Tabu Search, Particle Swarm Optimization, and Ant Colony Optimization. Recent advances in optimization, including hybrid methods, multi-objective optimization, optimization for big data, and integration with machine learning and artificial intelligence, are analyzed. Furthermore, the paper examines the challenges faced by optimization research and outlines emerging trends and future prospects. By synthesizing current knowledge and identifying areas for future research, this paper aims to contribute to the ongoing development and application of optimization techniques in OR and related fields.

Operations research in the space industry

The whole world is facing climate change, and many countries are facing the global epidemic of COVID-19. Human beings need to take proactive actions to deal with both COVID-19 and climate change problems, but they cannot take measures at the desired time. This paper will find a relationship between the climate change problem and the COVID-19 problem and a sustainable solution. This paper will be a review-based paper in which different news articles and previous studies review to attain research objectives. The research’s nature will be descriptive and exploratory because the researcher describes the COVID-19 epidemic and explores its link with the climate change problem. The research data has taken from secondary sources. This paper’s findings suggest that lockdown be the short-term solution to the COVID-19 problem, but it will halt the nation’s economy in the longer term. Due to lockdown, there is a reduction in pollution level, which is beneficial for the climate change problem. The researchers have observed certain similarities in curbing climate change and the COVID-19 problem. The pollution level of water, air, and soil pollution decreased. Still, in the longer term, nations need to find other solutions for dealing with COVID-19, which can be beneficial for the economy.

Social and biophysical limits to population and economic growth have long been an intense matter of contestation and division among social theorists. The roots of this split originated with warnings by Thomas Malthus about overpopulation and 19th-century political-economic debates about the expansion of modern capitalism, especially its alleged capacity to generate continuous, unplanned exponential growth and its actual unparalleled acceleration of growth and profound social and biophysical changes it wrought. The post–World War II era economic expansion of capitalism, or “Great Acceleration,” massively increased the size of the global economy relative to the biosphere, greatly intensified resource consumption and waste production, and consequently sharply accelerated climate change and other environmental problems. The public, experts, and corporate interests disagreed about strategies to cope with ecological damages, especially when they threatened to curtail economic growth. The seriousness of the threats posed by climate change and the scope of technical challenges, regulatory interventions, and socioeconomic costs of mitigation, especially decarbonization, have been the subject of intense disagreement among social theorists and divergent policy proposals. Social theory debates have focused on the role of capitalist production, organization, consumption, and culture. Centrally, they have addressed whether capital accumulation and growth are the ultimate indirect drivers of anthropogenic climate change and whether their material and social benefits outweigh their damages to the environment and human well-being. Social theorists also have debated whether market-based incentives and market-driven technological progress can cope sufficiently with climate change; whether statist efforts to adapt to and mitigate it sustain or undermine democracy; and whether climate change requires fundamental transformation of capitalism, modest reforms, or little or no planned change. Social theory debates over these policy positions have been in part shaped and justified via divergent “constructivist” and “realist” epistemologies. Constructivists argue that realists are too trustful of scientific authority, favor top-down technocracy, ignore voices of local publics, exaggerate the certainty of climate and other ecological futures, and pose environmental policies that cannot meet energy demands and economic needs of poor nations. Realists hold that constructivists have a flawed relativist epistemology; exaggerate the uncertainty of scientific findings; underestimate the speed, dangers, and possible irreversible damages of climate change and other global environmental problems; place too much confidence in markets and technology; and understate the already serious and likely to grow much worse damages that poor nations and regions suffer. The social theory debates over climate change and other global environmental problems’ severity and prospective policy options mediate between science and democratic public life and thereby inform debates over possible collective actions to address the inevitable trade-offs between limiting serious ecological damage and sustaining socioeconomic well-being.