The OR Analyst as a Hired Gun: A Short Case History

Operations Research analysts, by their very job descriptions, are continually involved in problems concerned with the rules governing the operations of various enterprises. It is unusual if an Operations Research project has no political overtones. Many times the politics may be simply due to the fact that there is resistance to change, change which may be brought about as a result of the OR analyst's work. Other times the politics may be due to conflicting objectives of different elements of the organization. In this case the analyst may find himself in a mediator role between the two elements or he may work behind the scenes as a partisan (or “hired gun”) analyst for one side or the other. It is the “hired gun” situation which we discuss here.