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Elements of operational research
400
Book Reviews
To guarantee good quality the authors used for several cases and for four chapters material that already appeared in the book Managerial Economics: Text and Cases (by Christenson, Vancil and Marshall, published in 1973 by R.D. Irwin, Inc.). Many colleagues of Berry. (The Ohio State University) and of Christenson (Harvard University) have shared with the authors the task of developing cases. Although an adequate assessment of a book like the present one is only possible by using it in a classroom context and not by only reading it, I think the cases are very useful. For everyone active in teaching courses in management science the book is valuable. In the book Robert Ronstadt is quoted as follows: "...the approximate cost of developing a quality case rises to around $10000." From this point of view the book is value for money!
A. VOLGENANT University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands F.M. WILKES Elements of Operational Research McGraw-Hill, London, 1980, xv + 434 pages, £ 7.95 To quote from the back cover: "This is a clear, concise and highly readable introduction to Operational Research (OR). The book has been written to meet the needs of students taking [British, J.G.] professional accounting examinations and it will also be useful to university and polytechnic students". I agree with the above statement with the proviso that "Operational Research" ought to be preceded by "Techniques of". Only five pages are devoted to the question "What is OR" and no attempts are made to convey the flavour of OR as it is practised in the real world. After an introductory chapter 1, the techniques that are introduced are, as indicated by the chapter headings: 2 Linear programming; 3 Transportation problems; 4 Assignment problems; 5 Critical path method; 6 Stock control; 7 Queueing theory; 8 Statistical replacement methods; 9 Forecasting methods; 10 Simulation; 11 Topics in brief: ex-
pected values; game theory; sequencing; dynamic programming. In addition there are an appendix on discounting and present values and tables of the Normal and the Poisson distributions. Each chapter is followed by exercises (many taken from examination papers of British professional accountants' organisations). Exercises requiring numerical answers are worked out in the back of the book. The techniques are explained by numerical examples and knowledge of only the basic arithmetical operations is required to follow the exposition; indeed "The author believes that the difficulty of OR techniques--in basic form--is often exaggerated. At that level the subject is perfectly manageable for the average student" (back cover). In some instances, as in the chapters on LP and simulation, the author admirably succeeds in justifying his belief: he lucidly explains not only the "how" but also the 'why' of the numerical manipulations. In other instances, notably in the chapter on queueing, the exposition is limited to substitution of numerical values for symbols in formulae that come falling out of a clear blue sky, the conditions even for the formulae's applicability barely being mentioned. A strong point of the book is that not only in the LP chapter but throughout the text, explicit attention is paid to sensitivity analyses. Also, there are regular reminders that what OR seeks is not absolutely accurate optimality but rather something that improves on what would otherwise have been done. A weak point, which this book shares with many other books on the subject, is that it lacks the flavour of real world OR and is limited to basic techniques. However, in general it gives the uninitiated a fair and broad appreciation of the sorts of models and methods that are available in quantitative problem analysis. Although it would not be my preferred text for an introductory course for would-be professionals in the field,'I think it is very suitable to give an appreciation of the subject to relative outsiders, the book's intended audience.
Johannes H.J. GEURTS Eindhoven University of Technology Eindhoven, Netherlands
Book Reviews
To guarantee good quality the authors used for several cases and for four chapters material that already appeared in the book Managerial Economics: Text and Cases (by Christenson, Vancil and Marshall, published in 1973 by R.D. Irwin, Inc.). Many colleagues of Berry. (The Ohio State University) and of Christenson (Harvard University) have shared with the authors the task of developing cases. Although an adequate assessment of a book like the present one is only possible by using it in a classroom context and not by only reading it, I think the cases are very useful. For everyone active in teaching courses in management science the book is valuable. In the book Robert Ronstadt is quoted as follows: "...the approximate cost of developing a quality case rises to around $10000." From this point of view the book is value for money!
A. VOLGENANT University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands F.M. WILKES Elements of Operational Research McGraw-Hill, London, 1980, xv + 434 pages, £ 7.95 To quote from the back cover: "This is a clear, concise and highly readable introduction to Operational Research (OR). The book has been written to meet the needs of students taking [British, J.G.] professional accounting examinations and it will also be useful to university and polytechnic students". I agree with the above statement with the proviso that "Operational Research" ought to be preceded by "Techniques of". Only five pages are devoted to the question "What is OR" and no attempts are made to convey the flavour of OR as it is practised in the real world. After an introductory chapter 1, the techniques that are introduced are, as indicated by the chapter headings: 2 Linear programming; 3 Transportation problems; 4 Assignment problems; 5 Critical path method; 6 Stock control; 7 Queueing theory; 8 Statistical replacement methods; 9 Forecasting methods; 10 Simulation; 11 Topics in brief: ex-
pected values; game theory; sequencing; dynamic programming. In addition there are an appendix on discounting and present values and tables of the Normal and the Poisson distributions. Each chapter is followed by exercises (many taken from examination papers of British professional accountants' organisations). Exercises requiring numerical answers are worked out in the back of the book. The techniques are explained by numerical examples and knowledge of only the basic arithmetical operations is required to follow the exposition; indeed "The author believes that the difficulty of OR techniques--in basic form--is often exaggerated. At that level the subject is perfectly manageable for the average student" (back cover). In some instances, as in the chapters on LP and simulation, the author admirably succeeds in justifying his belief: he lucidly explains not only the "how" but also the 'why' of the numerical manipulations. In other instances, notably in the chapter on queueing, the exposition is limited to substitution of numerical values for symbols in formulae that come falling out of a clear blue sky, the conditions even for the formulae's applicability barely being mentioned. A strong point of the book is that not only in the LP chapter but throughout the text, explicit attention is paid to sensitivity analyses. Also, there are regular reminders that what OR seeks is not absolutely accurate optimality but rather something that improves on what would otherwise have been done. A weak point, which this book shares with many other books on the subject, is that it lacks the flavour of real world OR and is limited to basic techniques. However, in general it gives the uninitiated a fair and broad appreciation of the sorts of models and methods that are available in quantitative problem analysis. Although it would not be my preferred text for an introductory course for would-be professionals in the field,'I think it is very suitable to give an appreciation of the subject to relative outsiders, the book's intended audience.
Johannes H.J. GEURTS Eindhoven University of Technology Eindhoven, Netherlands