Operations research: A two-stage semantic process

Operations Research is, first, a linguistic decision-making process, and, second, a linguistic operational process. 1 a) The first step in the decision-making process is the analysis of the problematical state of affairs. To analyze the undesirable status quo, it is necessary to understand how it got that way. The analysis takes the form, therefore, of a causal relationship: bona fide in the exact sciences, imputed in the behaviorial sciences. 1 b) The next step in the decision-making process is the development of a means-end hypothesis that is calculated to reach a goal-state. Where human beings are involved, the means-end hypothesis cannot be verified either before or after the fact. 2) The use of words by which to effect operations that are calculated to reach a goal-state may be referred to as a feedback loop that creates and controls change in the interest of a predetermined purpose. If Operations Research is a refined decision-making process, and, if the operational process rests on a linguistic model, Operations Research should provide built-in corrective measures to invest performance with uncertainty tolerance.