Operations Research Special

The main goal of this book is to provide a state of the art of hybrid metaheuristics. The book provides a complete background that enables readers to design and implement hybrid metaheuristics to solve complex optimization problems (continuous/discrete, mono-objective/multi-objective, optimization under uncertainty) in a diverse range of application domains. Readers learn to solve large scale problems quickly and efficiently combining metaheuristics with complementary metaheuristics, mathematical programming, constraint programming and machine learning. Numerous real-world examples of problems and solutions demonstrate how hybrid metaheuristics are applied in such fields as networks, logistics and transportation, bio-medical, engineering design, scheduling.

The purpose of this book is to introduce and explain research at the boundary between two fields that view problem solving from different perspectives. Researchers in operations research and artificial intelligence have traditionally remained separate in their activities. Recently, there has been an explosion of work at the border of the two fields, as members of both communities seek to leverage their activities and resolve problems that remain intractable to pure operations research or artificial intelligence techniques. This book presents representative results from this current flurry of activity and provides insights into promising directions for continued exploration. This book should be of special interest to researchers in artificial intelligence and operations research because it exposes a number of applications and techniques, which have benefited from the integration of problem solving strategies. Even researchers working on different applications or with different techniques can benefit from the descriptions contained here, because they provide insight into effective methods for combining approaches from the two fields. Additionally, researchers in both communities will find a wealth of pointers to challenging new problems and potential opportunities that exist at the interface between operations research and artificial intelligence. In addition to the obvious interest the book should have for members of the operations research and artificial intelligence communities, the papers here are also relevant to members of other research communities and development activities that can benefit from improvements to fundamental problem solving approaches.

"This is the book I have been waiting for. Community Operational Research has shown that analysis can be used not only for, but also with, community groups, helping them to gain more control of their situations. What Midgley and Ochoa-Arias' volume does is provide not only rich examples of grass-roots practice, but also thought-provoking theoretical explorations. The editors have a point of view, but they allow space for debate with those who interpret Community OR differently." Jonathan Rosenhead (Emeritus Professor of Operational Research, London School of Economics and Political Science; Ex-President of the ORS)

This monograph, as entitled, defines and describes the research field at the interface of Finance, Operations, and Risk Management (iFORM), provides examples where operations and finance overlap in meaningful ways, outlines promising research directions, and reduces the entry cost for anyone who would like to explore this new and exciting research field. The intended audience for this article includes both PhD students in operations management (OM), finance, and economics, who are looking for dissertation topics, and experienced researchers looking for novel applications of their expertise. The following outlines the rest of this article. Chapter 2 compares perspectives of finance and operations on the same topic: the firm. This motivates the key questions in finance, which is presented in the finance primer in chapter 3 and key questions in OM, which is presented in the OM primer in chapter 4. Having discussed key ideas from these disciplines separately, chapter 5 examines how OM and finance intersect in meaningful ways and suggest several promising research directions. Chapter 6 presents a "dos and don'ts list for publishing and reviewing iFORM papers.

The Encyclopedia received the 2011 RUSA Award for Outstanding Business Reference Source AN UNPARALLELED UNDERTAKING The Wiley Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science is the first multi-volume encyclopedia devoted to advancing the areas of operations research and management science. The Encyclopedia is available online and in print. The Encyclopedia was honored with the distinction of an "Outstanding Business Reference Source" by the Reference and User Services Association DETAILED AND AUTHORITATIVE Designed to be a mainstay for students and professionals alike, the Encyclopedia features four types of articles at varying levels written by diverse, international contributors. Introductory articles provide a broad and moderately technical treatment of core topics. Advanced articles review key areas of research in a citation-rich format similar to that of leading review journals. Technical articles provide more detailed discussions of key concepts addressed in related articles. Case Studies/Historical Interludes present successful and/or interesting examples of operations research and management science methodology in practical or historical contexts. KEY FEATURES OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA Offers the only cohesive multi-volume reference devoted to operations research and management science theory, methodology, and applications Includes over 600 articles with contributions from over 1,000 authors from 45 countries. Features an Editorial Board comprised of experts in the field who have vast experience in academia, industry, and government Designed to make the content useful and accessible to the widest possible readership Provides practical tools to maximize benefits and minimize cost and risk

The use of operations research (OR) in natural resources management (NRM) is an evolving research field with many application areas. Decision makers in NRM are often not aware of the possibilities that OR techniques offer them to solve their daily challenges. This special issue contributes to close this gap by showing how OR can be useful in different application areas of NRM.