On the roles of OR/MS practitioners in supporting strategy

This paper presents an exploratory account of how Operational Research/Management Science (OR/MS) practitioners understand their role in supporting an organisational strategy process. The role of strategy support is characterised by five dimensions: the activities supported within the strategy proce...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of the Operational Research Society 2015-02, Vol.66 (2), p.202-218
Main Author: O'Brien, Frances A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business and Management
Case studies
Core competencies
Decision making
General Paper
General Papers
Management
Management science
Operations research
Operations Research/Decision Theory
practice of OR
Strategic planning
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper presents an exploratory account of how Operational Research/Management Science (OR/MS) practitioners understand their role in supporting an organisational strategy process. The role of strategy support is characterised by five dimensions: the activities supported within the strategy process; the nature of support provided; the orientation of the support provided; the tools used in providing support; and the nature of the relationship between consultant and client. The research draws on case studies of four OR/MS practitioners working as internal and as external consultants. The work of the practitioners is mapped onto the framework and gaps are identified. The research proposes a further dimension, namely, 'the purpose of the support provided', and suggests four purposeful support roles adopted by practitioners in supporting strategy within organisations: sensemaking/sensegiving; decision support tool development; problem solving/solution exploration; and process facilitation. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research.
ISSN:0160-5682
1476-9360
DOI:10.1057/jors.2013.130