Big Data and Behavior in Operational Research: Towards a “Smart OR”

Abstract

Organisations are today characterised by increased dynamism and complexity. The challenges that have appeared as a result of these conditions have made organisations and the behaviour within them difficult to examine. We define SMART OR as the creative use of Big Data and hard and soft OR to enhance behaviour and positive results for decision-makers. In this chapter we describe the background to SMART OR, which is essentially action oriented and located within a particular problem context and stakeholder grouping and can take into account a number of biases—should an external observer observe them.