MANAGING REFORMS ON A LARGE-SCALE - WHAT ROLE FOR OR MS/

In this paper evidence is presented regarding the degree to which soci al reforms have been systematically managed by the Public Sector in Gr eece between 1975-1992. The findings reported here concur with the fin dings of others that, by and large, in developing countries, important social reforms tend not to be systematically handled. A twofold expla nation is advanced for what seems to be an inverse relationship betwee n the importance of social reforms and the use of OR/MS techniques for their management. First, the subsidiary role of OR/MS techniques in b oth developing and developed countries is partly due to the conflict-r idden and complex nature of important social reforms, which are not as amenable to systematic analysis as small-scale reforms. It is also pa rtly due to the competitive nature of liberal democracies which compel s governments to use social policies not only in a problem-solving mod e but also in a tactical mode. Secondly, the low degrees of bureaucrat ization and rationalization that characterize developing countries, in particular, account for seeing social reforms not so much as manifest ations of rational calculation designed to solve problems but as polit ical tools in the service of their masters. It is concluded that OR/MS may be useful in developing countries not so much for its techniques as for its ideology; not for what it is but for what it stands for.