Foundations of Operational Research and Business Analysis:

The purpose of this assignment is for you to reflect on a practical case study (or studies) and consider how these relate to the material covered in Foundations of Operational Research and Business Analysis 1 and what is written in the general modelling literature. You can discuss 1 or 2 case studies during the essay. These can include case studies described in a journal article (or articles) in the general OR/MS literature. In addition, if you have experience of working on an analytical project (or projects), then these could be included. You can also draw upon the projects you have carried out for ‘How to become an effective OR modeller/ How to become an effective Business analyst’.

You should firstly provide a BRIEF introduction to the case study (or studies), then your essay should continue by addressing the following issues:

• Using literature to support your discussion, what do you believe are the characteristics of a ‘good’ OR/MS model?

• Evaluate the extent to which the model(s) produced in the case studies matched these characteristics.

• Using literature to support your discussion, what do you believe are the main issues with problem structuring, data collection and analysis in OR/MS interventions? Were any of these encountered during the case studies? How are these best managed?

• Using literature to support your discussion, what are the key difficulties with implementation? How easy do you believe the implementation stage would be for each of your projects? What do you think the main implementation issues would be for each of the cases?

Your essay should be around 3,000–3,500 words (you should include a word count). You should include references to the general literature on modelling in OR/MS to support your arguments, as well as case studies you have read (and any other exs or material which help to illustrate the points that you are making). You should ensure that appropriate referencing is used.