Introduction to the Special Issue: Teaching Soft O.R., Problem Structuring Methods, and Multimethodology

Abstract

The topic of this special issue needs a different sort of introduction, especially to a U.S. readership. This is because the issue is about the teaching of problem structuring methods (PSMs) and soft O.R., both topics that are not well known within the United States In much of the rest of the world—especially in Britain but also in Europe and many other countries— these approaches are increasingly known, taught, and used. Indeed, the current President of the United Kingdom Operational Research Society says that in Britain “methodologies for problem structuring and techniques suited to help the understanding of those involved have been part of what has been taught in postgraduate O.R. courses for many years and continue to evolve” (Eglese 2011, p. 25). We discuss below possible reasons for the limited take-up so far of PSMs and soft O.R. in the United States