Behavioural operational research: returning to the roots of the OR profession

We witness and welcome the resurgence of interest in the study of behavioural issues in the conduct of operational research (OR). The use of the term ‘resurgence’ is deliberate: the consideration of human factors in models and model-supported processes can be traced back to debates in the 1960s and 1970s (e.g. Ackoff, 1977; Churchman, 1970; Dutton & Walton, 1964). However, whilst the socially situated nature of OR in practice has long been recognised (e.g. Keys, 1997), it was not until the wave of recent activity triggered by Hamalainen et al.’s (2013) paper in this journal that the role and impact of behaviour in OR practice regained centrality in academic and practitioners circles alike.