Except for this chapter, this book is organized about specific models and their associated solution methods . Because of this it is very easy to view operations research as a collection of complicated, mostly unrelated computational methods for solving rather unlikely problems. Most students with this perception would certainly label the material as mathematical exercises with little practical importance and promptly dismiss the possibility of application. This is unfortunate because the field of operations research was born entirely for the purpose of solving real problems. The original idea was to study the operations of a system in order to improve it. The use of models and mathematics was not the end, but one of the means of the study. Although the development of mathematical procedures for solving large mathematical models is certainly a valuable and worthy activity for academics and others, from the operations research perspective it is the application of these methods that is the goal. Of course application is not possible without knowledge, and providing an introduction to this body of knowledge is the purpose of this book.
This chapter is to put all of the following in perspective. The models and methods are to be used in the context of a complete decision making process. Perhaps this chapter should be put at the end of the book to tie it all together, but here it is at the beginning so the reader can carry the assurance of relevance through all the mathematical complexities that characterize the rest of the chapters.
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