FRAMEWORKS OF INQUIRY - OR PRACTICE ACROSS THE HARD-SOFT DIVIDE

This paper uses a detailed account of one practitioner's work in a 'traditional' area of OR (linear programming) to demonstrate how process-related issues are handled there. It argues that more extensive reporting of such conventional practice is essential for the health of the discipline. It suggests that an emphasis on discussing the development of working relationships between OR practioners and their clients might usefully supplant the contemporary emphasis on the 'project'.