Redbeard: Could You Tell Me More About OR?

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>I see you give a lot of detailed advice about OR around here, and since you work in the field, I figure you're a good person to ask. </p>

<p>I'm an ISOM student. I fully admit I don't have the quantitative background of a math or engineering major. I've only taken basic calculus and business statistics. This was like almost two years ago as well, so I don't really even remember the material all that well, although I did very well when I put the time in. </p>

<p>I am interested in trying to study OR, perhaps to become an analyst. It just sounds like REALLY interesting work to me. </p>

<p>Some schools offer OR concentrations in their MBA curriculum's--is this good enough to break into the field, or would it be better to get an MS OR? Also, is an MS in industrial engineering equivalent to an MS OR in terms of landing a job in the industry? </p>

<p>As for prepping for a program like this, I plan on taking math classes for cheap part time while I work. The classes I've heard are most important for the material are multivariable, linear algebra, DE, and calc based stats. Would you add anything else, or would that be sufficient?</p>

<p>I'm not a math prodigy by any means, but I work HARD when I'm motivated to do something. That being said, is an OR degree someone whose not Einstein should even consider trying to acheive??</p>

<p>Thanks a lot. If you have any other advice/feedback, I'm all ears.</p>

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<p>tttttttttttttttttttttt</p>

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<p>Try sending him a private message.</p>

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<p>Sorry, sport. It <em>is</em> summertime, of course!</p>

<p>Let's segregate your MBA question into work for the private sector, and work in the government (including defense) sector. An MBA with an OR concentration might qualify you for private sector positions that require an OR degree. But, you will probably look more like any other MBA. An MS in OR will distinguish you a lot more from the pack. In the public sector, an MBA with OR may meet the minimum qualifications for the 1515 (OR) series, but I would put such a person lower on the list. I need real practitioners and analysts, not the product of some broad "management" curriculum who dabbled in some spreadsheets. </p>

<p>As for courses, multivariable calc, DE, linear algebra (or linear programming), and calc-based statistics would make a great foundation. I would strongly recommend you become proficient in a modern programming language: Java or C++ would probably be best. Other courses you should be taking (as part of the degree) would include probability, non-parametric statistics, experimental design, forecasting, modeling and simulation, and decision theory.</p>

<p>Notice that many of these would not be offered as part of an MBA program, and rarely would ALL of them be included in an MBA degree. I consider these core courses for an MS in OR.</p>

<p>Industrial engineering is NOT operations research. I've looked at several curricula, and the courses overlap only to a moderate degree. I think schools put IE and OR in the same department because both are non-specific with respect to what type of engineering they work with (chem, EE, mech, CS, or civil, for example). </p>

<p>Systems engineering, however, is close enough. In fact, it's almost interchangeable with OR. </p>

<p>The question of whether one is 'smart enough' for this is very hard for any of us on CC to answer. I note with a chuckle the low opinion many have of our field -- the common opinion is that all animals and most plants could do this. In reality, I find lots of folks making their way through an MS OR program. Some do so with ease and some have to work hard. If you can handle the four foundation courses you said you would try, you should be able to make it all the way.</p>

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<p>Thanks redbeard! </p>

<p>I had a feeling the MBA with an OR concentration was probably a little too watered down. If anything, I'd like to get the MS OR first and then attempt an MBA some time shortly after. </p>

<p>Thanks for clearing up that IE is not OR. Like you said, I always assumed it was virtually the same stuff because the two are almost always in the same department. I'll check out systems engineering. </p>

<p>I'm learning java this semester for the IS program. Hopefully this is sufficient.</p>

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<p>redbeard, can a math major almost certainly have all the pre requisite courses to get into a MS/OhD OR program?</p>

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<p>Redbeard, you said OR is different from IE. Now I have a good idea of what IE, but I also thought the two subjects were essentially the same thing until now (I thought I knew what OR was until now). So if IE is different from OR, what exactly is OR then?</p>

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<p>I did a little research. Ready?</p>

<p>From JHU website:</p>

<p>Operations research (OR) is an analytical method of problem-solving and decision-making that is useful in the management of organizations. In operations research, problems are broken down into basic components and then solved in defined steps by mathematical analysis.</p>

<p>From Wikipedia:</p>

<p>an interdisciplinary branch of applied mathematics and formal science that uses methods like mathematical modeling, statistics, and algorithms to arrive at optimal or near optimal solutions to complex problems. It is typically concerned with optimizing the maxima (profit, assembly line performance, crop yield, bandwidth, etc) or minima (loss, risk, etc) of some objective function. Operations research helps management achieve its goals using the scientific process.</p>

<p>Wiktionary</p>

<p>the application of scientific methods and techniques to problems of decision making</p>

<p>From ORChampions website: </p>

<p>The science of better. See Promoting</a> Operations Research | Defining O.R. clearly</p>

<p>And, the most comprehensive discussion comes from MathWorld:</p>

<p>Operations research is a vast branch of mathematics which encompasses many diverse areas of minimization and optimization. Thousands of books have been written worldwide on the subject of operations research.</p>

<p>The central objective of operations research is optimization, i.e., "to do things best under the given circumstances." This general concept has great many applications, for instance, in agricultural planning, biotechnology, data analysis, distribution of goods and resources, emergency and rescue operations, engineering systems design, environmental management, financial planning, health care management, inventory control, manpower and resource allocation, manufacturing of goods, military operations, production process control, risk management, sequencing and scheduling of tasks, telecommunications, and traffic control.</p>

<p>Closely related disciplines (with significant overlaps among these) include decision analysis, systems analysis, management science, control theory, game theory, optimization theory, constraint logic programming, artificial intelligence, fuzzy decision-making, multi-criteria analysis, and so on. All these disciplines share the objective of improving a quantitative decision making procedure. The same comment applies to operations research-related business applications such as supply-chain management, enterprise resource planning, total quality management, just-in-time production and inventory management, and materials requirements planning.</p>

<p>Research. It's not just the second half of our name. </p>

<p>RB</p>

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<p>Let's simplify the learned description of OR with some examples:
When you are standing in line at the bank or for fast food or at the DMV, how many counters/windows are there? How fast is the line moving? What is the probability of being served in x minutes? That's queuing theory which is part of OR.</p>

<p>Product mixes: given the cost of blueberries and raisins, how many should we put in each box of cruncy puffs cereal to optimize sales at minimum cost, etc? That's part of OR too.</p>

<p>What should we build in the local factory given labor costs and production constraints versus the off shore factory given transportation costs, etc.? That's part of OR too.</p>

<p>In summary, optimization is the key word. There are many different techniques involved in OR you need to know how, when, and which to apply.
As for mathematics you'll make good use of statistics and combinatorics and linear algebra. Think about problems like the traveling salesman or the Konigsburg bridges or Towers of Hanoi to start out.</p>

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<p>The problems that OR solves sounds very interesting.. but I wonder if the math is as fun? I prefer pure math/calculus rather than statistics..</p>

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<p>redbeard, does it matter if the degree is offered through a business department or engineering department? some programs have OR under management science in the business department, while others have it as a program offered from the engineering department. i should probably assume the engineering department is better, right?</p>

<p>Also, how important is the prestige of the university you attend in this field?</p>

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<p>I thought that everything that is mentioned about OR was IE in redbeard's post. Isn't that was IE's also do? I've always been given the counter example when asking what do IE's do and have also seen this on google. How is it different?</p>