OR as rational choice: a decision and game theory perspective

Social science disciplines have used decision theory and game theory to provide metaphorical understanding and analytical rigour in their particular domains. The paper explores whether a similar perspective can be applied to operational research (OR) in order to provide an integrating theme for both theory and practice. It is argued that, while the methods of OR are instrumentally rational, OR interventions embrace non-instrumental aspects as well. A case study of an application of decision theory is described and analysed from a decision and game theory (DGT) perspective. The case demonstrates that although the model developed was instrumental, the structure and content of the model reflected the normative and communicative aspects of the decision context. The paper concludes that OR could use a DGT perspective as a conceptual framework for the teaching, research and practice of OR.

[1]  Sven F. Crone,et al.  Forecasting and operational research: a review , 2008, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[2]  O. H. Brownlee,et al.  ACTIVITY ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION AND ALLOCATION , 1952 .

[3]  Hamdy A. Taha,et al.  Operations research: an introduction / Hamdy A. Taha , 1982 .

[4]  W. Riker,et al.  The Entry of Game Theory into Political Science , 1992 .

[5]  Odell.  Oil and world power: background to the oil crisis. Third Edition , 1975 .

[6]  J. Mingers,et al.  Rational analysis for a problematic world revisited : problem structuring methods for complexity, uncertainty and conflict , 1989 .

[7]  RJ Ormerod,et al.  The history and ideas of critical rationalism: the philosophy of Karl Popper and its implications for OR , 2009, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[8]  Richard J. Ormerod,et al.  The development and use of the NCB strategic model , 1984 .

[9]  David Allen,et al.  Case Studies in Decision Analysis , 1977 .

[10]  John Kay,et al.  Foundations Of Corporate Success , 1995 .

[11]  H. Raiffa.  Game Theory at the University of Michigan, 1948–1952 , 1992 .

[12]  T. Schelling.  The Strategy of Conflict , 1963 .

[13]  Alison Wolf,et al.  Contemporary Sociological Theory: Expanding the Classical Tradition , 1986 .

[14]  C J L Yewlett,et al.  Theory and practice in OR and town planning: a continuing creative synergy? , 2001, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[15]  J. Coleman.  The mathematics of collective action , 1973 .

[16]  Norton E. Long.  The Local Community as an Ecology of Games , 1958, American Journal of Sociology.

[17]  Richard J. Ormerod.  Energy models for decision making , 1980 .

[18]  Edward De Bono.  Conflicts: A Better Way to Resolve Them , 1985 .

[19]  H. Kelley,et al.  The social psychology of groups , 1960 .

[20]  J. Banks,et al.  Toward a history of game theory , 1995 .

[21]  Shashi Shekhar,et al.  Cognitive Mapping , 2008, Encyclopedia of GIS.

[22]  R. Sabatelli.  The Social Psychology of Groups , 2000 .

[23]  J. Nash.  Equilibrium Points in N-Person Games. , 1950, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[24]  P. K. Gupta,et al.  Linear programming and theory of games , 1979 .

[25]  T. Schelling,et al.  The Strategy of Conflict. , 1961 .

[26]  David A. Schum,et al.  Decision Science and Technology , 1999 .

[27]  Frederick S. Hillier,et al.  Introduction of Operations Research , 1967 .

[28]  J. Coleman.  Foundations of Social Theory , 1990 .

[29]  Robert Leonard.  Creating a Context for Game Theory , 1992 .

[30]  Derek Ezra.  Operational research within the National Coal Board , 1977, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[31]  Richard J. Ormerod,et al.  Putting Soft OR Methods to Work: Information Systems Strategy Development at Richards Bay , 1996 .

[32]  John R. Searle,et al.  Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language , 1970 .

[33]  Bryan Hattingh,et al.  The competitive advantage , 2007 .

[34]  Jon Coaffee,et al.  Planning Under Pressure – The Strategic Choice Approach (3rd ed.) , 2006 .

[35]  Harvey Pinney.  The Structure of Social Action , 1940, Ethics.

[36]  J. Coleman.  Individual interests and collective action , 1966 .

[37]  Lixin Tang,et al.  Raw material inventory solution in iron and steel industry using Lagrangian relaxation , 2008, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[38]  John Mingers,et al.  Response to Richard Ormerod , 2004, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[39]  J. Nash.  NON-COOPERATIVE GAMES , 1951, Classics in Game Theory.

[40]  M. W. Plackett,et al.  The National Coal Board strategic model , 1982 .

[41]  S. French.  Planning under Pressure: The Strategic Choice Approach , 1988 .

[42]  Richard J. Ormerod.  Global resources of coal: Opportunities, constraints and solutions , 1981 .

[43]  Martin Shubik,et al.  A Method for Evaluating the Distribution of Power in a Committee System , 1954, American Political Science Review.

[44]  A. Dixit,et al.  Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life , 1991 .

[45]  A B Lovins,et al.  Energy: the "soft path". , 1977, Science.

[46]  Richard J. Ormerod.  OR models assist the Sizewell B public inquiry , 1997 .

[47]  Robin Farquharson,et al.  Theory of voting , 1969 .

[48]  Jon Elster,et al.  The Nature and Scope of Rational-Choice Explanation , 1988 .

[49]  W. Hamilton,et al.  The Evolution of Cooperation , 1984 .

[50]  J. Hughes,et al.  A Special case?: social justice and the miners; , 1972 .

[51]  John Mingers,et al.  Critical Heuristics of Social Planning: A New Approach to Practical Philosophy , 1983 .

[52]  Barbara A. Mellers,et al.  Decision science and technology. Reflections on the contributions of Ward Edwards , 1999 .

[53]  Ernest Lepore,et al.  Actions and Events , 1985 .

[54]  Christopher J. L. Wilson.  Energy: Global prospects, 1985-2000 , 1977 .

[55]  Martyn Sloman.  How Operational Gaming can Help with the Introduction of a New Technology , 1977 .

[56]  M. Grenon.  Future Coal Supply for the World Energy Balance; Proceedings of the Third IIASA Conference on Energy Resources, November 28 - December 2, 1977 , 1979 .

[57]  Richard J. Ormerod.  Putting Soft OR Methods to Work: Information Systems Strategy Development at Sainsbury's , 1995 .

[58]  J. Dewey.  Logic, the theory of inquiry , 1938 .

[59]  Ralph L. Keeney,et al.  Wise choices : decisions, games, and negotiations , 1996 .

[60]  G. Simmel.  How is Society Possible? , 1910, American Journal of Sociology.

[61]  T. Parsons,et al.  The Structure of Social Action , 1938 .

[62]  P. Favero.  Soft Energy Paths: Toward a Durable Peace , 1978 .

[63]  M. Mcwilliam.  Monopolies and Mergers Commission , 2001 .

[64]  Stewart Robinson,et al.  Soft with a hard centre: discrete-event simulation in facilitation , 2001, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[65]  José-Rodrigo Córdoba-Pachón,et al.  Broadening the boundaries: an application of critical systems thinking to IS planning in Colombia , 2006, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[66]  Jonathan Rosenhead,et al.  Planning Under Uncertainty: 1. The Inflexibility of Methodologies , 1980 .

[67]  Steven Vajda,et al.  Games and Decisions. By R. Duncan Luce and Howard Raiffa. Pp. xi, 509. 70s. 1957. (J Wiley & Sons) , 1959, The Mathematical Gazette.

[68]  J. Habermas.  Theory of Communicative Action , 1981 .

[69]  Michael Pidd,et al.  Simulation modelling is 50! Do we need a reality check? , 2009, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[70]  W. Ulrich.  Systems thinking, systems practice, and practical philosophy: A program of research , 1988 .

[71]  M. A. Laughton.  Energy policy planning , 1981 .

[72]  Jonathan Rosenhead,et al.  Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited , 2001 .

[73]  D. E. Matthews.  Evolution and the Theory of Games , 1977 .

[74]  Joseph Heath,et al.  Communicative Action and Rational Choice , 2001 .

[75]  Russell L. Ackoff,et al.  The Development of Operations Research as a Science , 1956 .

[76]  J. Neumann,et al.  Theory of games and economic behavior , 1945, 100 Years of Math Milestones.

[77]  J. Coleman,et al.  Foundations for a Theory of Collective Decisions , 1966, American Journal of Sociology.

[78]  David J. Worthington,et al.  Reflections on queue modelling from the last 50 years , 2009, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[79]  L. M. Rose.  Modern Decision Analysis: G.M. Kaufman and H. Thomas (editors), Penguin Modern Management Readings, Penguin Books, 1977, 507 pages, price [UK pound] 2.25 , 1978 .

[80]  Gerald Foley.  The Energy Question , 2021, Sustainability Matters.

[81]  Chris N. Potts,et al.  Fifty years of scheduling: a survey of milestones , 2009, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[82]  Werner Ulrich,et al.  Critical heuristics of social systems design , 1987 .

[83]  A. O’Rand.  Mathematizing Social Science in the 1950s: The Early Development and Diffusion of Game Theory , 1992 .

[84]  J. Johnson.  Is Talk Really Cheap? Prompting Conversation between Critical Theory and Rational Choice , 1993, American Political Science Review.

[85]  J. Dewey,et al.  How We Think , 2009 .

[86]  William Diebold,et al.  Coal: Bridge to the Future , 1980 .

[87]  J. Campbell.  Edward Heath: A Biography , 1993 .

[88]  Nigel Howard.  Paradoxes of Rationality , 2003 .

[89]  John Mingers,et al.  Multimethodology : the theory and practice of combining management science methodologies , 1997 .

[90]  Gerald Leach,et al.  A Low energy strategy for the United Kingdom , 1979 .

[91]  S Robinson.  Medal awards 2000 , 2001, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[92]  Colin Eden,et al.  Using Repertory Grids for Problem Construction , 1984 .

[93]  Paul R. Harper,et al.  Locational analysis: highlights of growth to maturity , 2009, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[94]  W. Häfele.  Energy in a Finite World: A Global Systems Analysis (Volume 2) , 1981 .

[95]  Alec Morton,et al.  Fifty years of probabilistic decision analysis: a view from the UK , 2009, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[96]  Richard J. Ormerod,et al.  The role of OR in shaping the future: smart bits, helpful ways and things that matter , 1997 .

[97]  Howard Raiffa.  Decision Analysis: A Personal Account of How It Got Started and Evolved , 2002, Oper. Res..