Mathematical programming modelling tools for resource-poor countries and organisations
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Mathematical programming modelling tools for resource-poor countries and organisations Alistair Clark Bristol Institute of Technology, University of the West of England, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
In recent years, powerful mathematical modelling languages have enabled Operational Research practitioners to rapidly develop prototype tools capable of modelling complex managerial decisions such as staff shift scheduling, or production and supply chain planning. However, such tools have often required expensive commercial optimisation solvers that are sometimes beyond the financial reach of small companies and organisations, particularly in the low-income and emerging economies. Fortunately, the worldwide scope of the internet has put powerful free optimisation tools within the reach of anyone with a modest PC and even a slow internet connection. This article will present examples showing just how beneficial such an approach can be for resource-poor organisations. OR Insight (2010) 23, 57–70. doi:10.1057/ori.2009.9
Keywords: modelling languages; mathematical programming; OR in developing countries; spreadsheets
Introduction The application of Operational Research (OR) has the potential to radically enhance decision making in organisations at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. To emphasise the importance of OR, the North American Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the Association of European OR Societies (EURO) and the British OR Society have all been promoting OR to business and the public sector through the & 2010 Operational Reasearch Society Ltd 0953-5543 OR Insight www.palgrave-journals.com/ori/
Vol. 23, 1, 57–70
Clark
Science of Better joint publicity campaign. Its target audience, however, tends to be executives and managers in more developed economies rather than in low-income emerging economies or organisations that are poor in resources, for example, voluntary organisations. Emerging-economy countries differ a lot, from the technologically advanced (for example, Brazil, Chile, India, China) to the relatively deprived (for example, West Africa). Brazil and Chile have well-developed Information and Computing Technology (ICT) sectors, a strong OR presence with specialist university researchers, sophisticated OR projects in agro-business and industry (Taube, 1996; Weintraub et al, 2000), and reasonable access to stateof-the-art OR software. In contrast, the poorer emerging economies have less apparent demand for OR, a smaller OR presence with fewer university researchers, and correspondingly limited access to ICT. For such countries, specialist OR software is often too expensive to buy and there is usually little or no local technical support in the country. Thus the question can be asked: are there less costly (or even free) software tools for OR that resource-poor practitioners can take advantage of? To a surprising extent, the answer turns out to be ‘Yes’ – particularly in the area of mathematical programming – as is
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