IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/tjorxx/v70y2019i1p53-66.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Horizontal recursion in soft OR

Author

Listed:
  • Chris M. Smith
  • Duncan Shaw

Abstract

In operational research (OR), the concept of recursion explains particular relationships between modelled systems. It clarifies how the same system properties are replicated vertically across hierarchically interdependent units, meaning these units should be amenable to the same analytical conventions. OR views recursion as hierarchical and therefore does not consider these properties in a horizontal sense. This paper uses theory from other disciplines to develop criteria that define recursive modelling for soft OR as vertical or horizontal. Empirical data was captured using WASAN to improve efficiency in a police force customer contact department. Four units were modelled using WASAN, and additional analysis using recursion was conducted to understand the horizontal interdependence across these four units. Feedback from participants suggests the horizontal recursion analysis provided valuable insights beyond that of individual models.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris M. Smith & Duncan Shaw, 2019. "Horizontal recursion in soft OR," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 70(1), pages 53-66, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:tjorxx:v:70:y:2019:i:1:p:53-66
    DOI: 10.1080/01605682.2017.1421847
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01605682.2017.1421847
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/01605682.2017.1421847?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:tjorxx:v:70:y:2019:i:1:p:53-66. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/tjor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.