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What is Operations Research?

Operations research (OR) identifies service-delivery problems and tests new programmatic solutions to these problems. An important objective of OR is to provide program managers and policy decision-makers with the information they need to improve and expand existing services. Increasingly, issues of gender, empowerment and life-long reproductive health issues affect the way in which service-delivery problems are defined and solutions developed. OR employs many methodologies in a process that includes five basic steps: (1) problem identification and diagnosis; (2) strategy selection; (3) strategy experimentation and evaluation; (4) information dissemination; and (5) information utilization.

About the course

 

This course defines operations research (OR) as the study of factors under the control of health program managers and other decision-makers. The purpose of OR is to improve programs and provide information for management decision-making. Successful OR is characterized by a close collaboration between program managers and researchers throughout the study. This collaboration requires that managers have some understanding of research and that researchers have some understanding of health programs. The examples and exercises in this course are largely based on operations research studies in reproductive health projects in developing countries.

The aim of the course is to improve the research knowledge of managers who have had little or no training in research. Its focus is on improving the quality of the manager-researcher interaction and, hopefully, it will increase the use of OR as a program improvement tool. Specifically, the course familiarizes health program managers and decision makers with the principles and vocabulary of operations research, especially intervention projects; and equips the manager to play an active and effective role in field experiments and other types of program research. More generally, the course aims to stimulate managers to seek out research data in making program decisions, even when an operations research project is not being contemplated.

The course is based on the experience of many researchers, especially those who have participated in the United States Agency for International Development funded Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program (FRONTIERS). The course has been conducted in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, former Soviet Block countries, and the United states. This version is based on the most successful materials from those courses.

Suggested citation: Foreit, James R. and M.E. Khan. 2008. "Operations research for managers," FRONTIERS CDRom.  Population Council: Washington, DC.

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For additional information please contact:
Frontiers in Reproductive Health
Population Council
4301 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Suite 280
Washington, D.C. 20008 U.S.A.
telephone: (202) 237-9400
facsimile: (202) 237-8410
e-mail: frontiers@popcouncil.org
website: www.popcouncil.org/frontiers

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The Population Council conducts research worldwide to improve policies, programs, and products in three areas: HIV and AIDS; poverty, gender, and youth; and reproductive health. FRONTIERS is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of Cooperative Agreement Number HRN-A-00-98-00012-00 and led by the Population Council in collaboration with Family Health International. FRONTIERS staff and collaborating organizations conduct research in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean.      

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© 2008 The Population Council, Inc.

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