Community Operational Research

Community Operational Research: OR and Systems Thinking for Community Development sets out the current concerns of Community Operational Research (Community OR for short) and explores new possibilities for its continued development. Leading Community OR writers, with international reputations in operational research and systems thinking, have contributed chapters that illuminate different aspects of Community OR theory and practice. There is a focus on the value of systems approaches, and other significant perspectives are also represented. The result is a rich mix of theories, methodologies and case studies that will be a significant resource for both practitioners and academics engaged in community development.

• Environmental management
• Institution
• Nation
• environment
• linear optimization
• operational research
• sets

From the reviews:

`This is the book I have been waiting for. Community Operational Research has shown that analysis can be used not only for, but also with, community groups, helping them to gain more control of their situations. What Midgley and Ochoa-Arias' volume does is provide not only rich examples of grass-roots practice, but also thought-provoking theoretical explorations. The editors have a point of view, but they allow space for debate with those who interpret Community OR differently.'
Jonathan Rosenhead (Emeritus Professor of Operational Research, London School of Economics and Political Science; Ex-President of the Operational Research Society)
`...What the many authors in this book have in common is a commitment to serve the interests of all those affected by a community's behavior - its stakeholders. This is acquiring a new significance as we decreasingly conceptualize corporations and organizations in general as organisms, and begin to think of them, as Charles Handy has, as communities.'
Russell Ackoff (Professor Emeritus of the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania; Ex-President of ORSA; Vice President of TIMS)

"The authors/editors have made a worthwhile contribution to the scant literature in a growing field. In particular, they should be commended for presenting illustrations of community projects in developing countries. … this book attests to the growing application of OR methods to community development … . I commend the authors for their effort." (JP van Gigch, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 58 (3), 2007)

• Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR Ltd), Christchurch, New Zealand

  Gerald Midgley

• Centre for Systems Studies, Business School University of Hull, Hull, UK

  Gerald Midgley

• Universidad de Los Andes, Marida, Venezuela

  Alejandro Ochoa-Arias

Policies and ethics