Administrative science or Business Administration is a social science that studies the Organization of an institution, company, firm, etc., in addition to the way in which they manage resources, the application of processes and results of activities.
This essay talks about the use of operations research within a company to increase its development and reduce errors.
Operations research
Operations research (IO) is a process that begins when a person observes a problem and determines its needs to give it a solution by formulating an objective, setting limits and generating alternatives to be evaluated and, later, choosing the most convenient one.
Churchman, Ackoff and Arnoff, in their book published in 1957, define Operations Research as:
Operations Research is the application, by interdisciplinary groups, of the scientific method to problems related to the control of organizations or systems (man - machine), in order to produce solutions that better serve the objectives of the organization.
The application of IO in Organizational Administration
The IO had its beginnings in the war in order to make the most of the tools, the territory, weapons, etc., in addition to applying a good defense. After this, it aroused great interest to be applied in other resources.
During the industrial revolution its use was evident and therefore its perfection. That is why there are currently many areas in which IO can be applied, so the administrative one is no exception.
Most of the large global organizations have well-established IO groups and likewise, many industries, financial, government and health institutions seek to implement them with techniques such as: linear programming in personnel assignment problems, investment portfolios, among others; dynamic scheduling for production planning; queuing theory to determine the level of workforce, production scheduling and hospital management; to mention a few.
With the technological advance, a high increase has been generated in the differentiation and segmentation of business functions, resulting in a new type of problems that have been called "Executive-type problems" that are a direct consequence of divisions. functional work.
This is why many companies have chosen to hire business consultants to apply IoT who apply scientific methods, techniques and mathematical and statistical procedures to observe problem areas and / or functions, analyze the strategies proposed by the executives and determine the best solution. convenient, based on established limits and regulations (costs, time, space, etc.).
The IO was formally introduced in the company to develop common algorithms such as inventories, assignments, productions, etc., which leads to the conclusion that its objectives are to provide a "scientifically" supported basis to solve problems that each one involves organizational functions; in addition to formulating a solution without margins of error that suit the proper development of a specific area, favoring the entire company.
An efficient company in our times, depends on operating systems, quantitative, as well as computational that serve as essential tools to achieve the objectives established at the departmental and global level.
It is necessary to consider that the structure of large companies has gone through the following stages in its evolution (Chandler, 1962): from the unitary structure of the company specialized in the production of a single product, to the divisional structure that involves the production of various products by the same organization, and from this part to the multidivisional-international structure where transnational companies are characterized.
According to Hasclhoff (1987), the modern company can be conceptualized as a complex and dynamic organizational system that poses solutions to problems that pose a large number of data that require speed and accuracy, as well as the processing of sequences of mathematical algorithms that they cannot normally be done manually or mechanically.
It is evident that the relationship that exists between organizational administration, IO and the technological-computational system is extremely close, and this undoubtedly means that at present, within an organization, it is necessary for them to be linked to solve real and concrete problems for better performance and obtaining better results.
Bibliography
- Frederick S. Hillier and Gerald J. Lieberman (2010) Introduction to Operations Research 9a. Edition. Mexico: Mc Graw Hill Taha H. (2005) Operations Research, an introduction. Mexico: Prentice Hall.Velásquez Vásquez, FO (June, 2002) Schools and interpretations of administrative thought SciELO, No. 83. Available at:
