Industrial Economics and Operations Research at Stanford Research Institute

Abstract

The dynamic and profitable nature of American industry is dependent upon sound applied research in industrial economics in the same way that it is dependent upon the more frequently recognized applied research in technical fields. As a matter of fact, it is the combination of technical and economic research that accounts for much of the economy's profit, expansion, and productivity. Call it techno-economic research, or operations research if you wish. The purpose of this paper is not to propose definitions, but rather to give some examples of how companies are conducting research to arrive at decisions that affect their growth and health and that of the total economy. Then the reader may label this kind of research by whatever brand name appeals to him. Operations Research , ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.