19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Doubles as inexpensive textbook on operations research, April 15 2006
By calvinnme - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Schaum's Outline of Operations Research (Paperback)
Some of the primary tools used by operations researchers are statistics, optimization, stochastics, queueing theory, game theory, graph theory, and simulation. Because of the computational nature of these fields operations research also has ties to computer science, and thus this outline is useful to people from both fields. OR is concerned with optimization problems in which one seeks to maximize or minimize a specific quantity. The first part of this book is on optimization via linear, integer, and nonlinear programming. Next, network analysis is covered. Network analysis is the general name given to certain specific techniques which can be used for the planning, management and control of projects. Two different techniques for network analysis were developed independently in the late 1950's - PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Management). These techniques are also covered in the outline. The next subject tackled is that of inventory models - allowing shortages, allowing price discounts, risk conditions, etc., and their mathematical modeling. Game theory, decision theory, and dynamic programming are all explained in the context of inventory models and forecasting. Finally, there is coverage of Markov chains and queueing theory. Queuing Theory arises from the use of mathematical analysis to theoretically describe production processes along with statistical/probabilistic techniques to account for varying dynamic patterns within the stages of a productive process. The problem to be met is simply entitled "congestion", what happens when a system does not operate smoothly or efficiently.
I really liked this Schaum's outline, and I used it to teach myself most of the mathematical processes covered without the need for any additional resources. The theory is given in small doses along with very illustrative examples. The mathematics starts with simple algebra and works up to nothing more complex than probability and statistics. I highly recommend it for anybody enrolled in an operations research class as well as computer scientists and mathematics students that are studying any subset of the topics covered in this book.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
not enough, Jan 22 2007
By gökhan "ginci" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Schaum's Outline of Operations Research (Paperback)
First of all, be careful, this is not a text book. It has a good presentation for problem solution. First, there are a some solved problems, then supplementary problems are coming. The answers of supplementary problems are at the end of the book.
This book might be useful for beginners. For every topic, there are easy problems, not specific problems similar to case studies. If you are over beginner degree, this book will not be useful for you. Especially, integer programming sections are not satisfactory. For instance, there isn't any facility location problem solution.
To sum-up this book may be useful for a beginner as a workbook.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Usefull, Nov 21 2011
By kostasdel - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Schaum's Outline of Operations Research (Paperback)
Very good book, with detailed explanations of most operations research themes, well written and with many examples.
Strongly suggested for newbies and intermediate users of operations research.