OR AS TECHNOLOGY REVISITED

In this paper the issue of how OR is related to science and technology is revisited. An earlier argument that a modern view of science and t echnology offers a better explanation of this relationship than a trad itional view is strengthened and developed. Using concepts drawn from the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) a new perspective on OR pr actice is introduced and shown to offer different insights into the wo rk of OR practitioners and the way OR may be understood in relation to science and technology.