Overview

Operations research is, by its very nature, a multidisciplinary field in which a group of experts attempts to manage and optimize complex undertakings. These undertakings can be military operations, industrial systems management, governmental operations, or commercial ventures. The heart of operations research is the mathematical modeling of part or all of these ventures, which can provide more insight into the interactions of certain variables of interest. The technique of linear programming was developed, in part, to help solve some of these problems. Operations research proved invaluable in solving some military problems in World War II and in subsequent wars and has had a significant impact on the way complex operations are planned and managed.

Background

With the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century, production systems became more automated and mechanized, many activities became more complex, and people began to supervise and manage machines that produced...