Operations Research and Management Science Applications of Fuzzy Theory

Operations Research, OR, and Management Science, MS, methodologies attempt to aid "human decision-making" for the improvement of various performance indecies in operation and control of complex "humanistic systems". A historical review of Zadeh's papers and fuzzy system applications reveal that OR, and MS applications were started early in the development of fuzzy systems, even before the advent of fuzzy control applications. Furthermore the development of fuzzy systems applications continued in OR and MS in the shadow of fuzzy control. It is forecasted that the novel application of fuzzy systems will appear more frequently in OR and MS for managerial decision support and control in the areas of strategic and tactical planning, resource allocation, scheduling, inventory control, logistics, health care and financial planning, etc., under the headings of mathematical programming, quality control, network analysis and control, consumer preference analysis, client credit worthiness, financial portfolio analysis, medical diagnosis, internet and network analysis and design, etc. In particular it is forecasted that Type 2 fuzzy knowledge representation and reasoning will be a key development area in the new millennium. Type 2 fuzzy system models expose uncertainties and risks associated with the real life system behaviours and help management to make better decision for complex humanistic systems. In the new millennium, we need to conduct further research on human information processing capabilities in order to comprehend the impact of fuzzy theory, CWW and perception on OR and MS.