Most people will tell
you “it’s the same”. Those a little bit more savvy, however, will say (correctly
I admit) that the first (operational) is UK/European (we even have journals and
societies under this name, e.g., European Journal of Operational Research), while
the second (operations) is American.
These, however, do not answer my question: which one is correct? Or, to be more precise, which one describes better the content and scope of the OR discipline which is the application of advanced analytical methods, such as mathematical modeling, statistics, and optimization, to help make better decisions and solve complex problems?
The root of the problem may be in the translation of the English 'operations research' into, say, French (recherche opérationnelle), Dutch (operationeel onderzoek), etc., and then translating these back to English as (operational research).
Operational
Research, however, implies research that is operational; i.e., research dealing with
day-to-day operational questions. Operations Research, instead, is 'research on
operations', which is exactly what OR is about, as I have defined it above.
I hope my ‘silly’ distinction might be found useful or convincing among colleagues and students, so that the correct expression is used going forward. And this is “Operations Research”.
HH
