OR/MS Support to Senior Managers in the Public Sector: Two Cases

Through two case examples this paper illustrates that senior public managers at even the highest levels can be, and regularly are, helped by OR/MS people and/or their tools, approaches, and ways of thinking. Thus, it questions the continuing belief evidently held by some in the OR/MS community that it does not, or cannot, happen for a variety of reasons, which they then proceed to spell out.