This paper argues that if OR is to prosper it needs to more closely reflect the needs of organisations and its practitioners. Past research has highlighted a gap between theoretical research developments, applications and the methods most frequently used in organisations. The scope of OR applications has also been contested with arguments as to the expanding boundaries of OR. But despite this, anecdotal evidence suggests that OR has become marginalised in many contexts. In order to understand these changes, IFORS (International Federation of OR Societies) in 2009 sponsored a survey of global OR practice. The aim was to provide current evidence on the usage of OR tools, areas of application, and the barriers to OR's uptake, as well as the educational background of OR practitioners. Results presented here show practitioners falling into three segments, which can be loosely characterised as those practicing ‘traditional’ OR, those adopting a range of softer techniques including Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs), and a Business Analytics cluster. When combined with other recent survey evidence, the use of PSMs and Business Analytics is apparently extending the scope of OR practice. In particular, the paper considers whether the Business Analytics movement, with an overlapping skill set to traditional OR but with a fast growing organisational base, offers a route to diminishing the gap between academic research and practice. The paper concludes with an exploration of whether this represents not just an opportunity for OR but also a serious challenge to its established practices. “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” Multiple attributions including Einstein and Yogi Berra This paper is stimulated by a survey of global OR practice sponsored by IFORS. In placing the new results in the context of other practice surveys it has become clear that the gap between academic research and practice – the ‘natural drift’ for professions identified by Corbett and Van Wassenhove (1993) – still exists and that changes in the organisational environment make the need to address the gap more urgent. Further, although the scope of OR practice continues to extend and evolve, particularly arising from Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs) sometimes referred to as Soft OR, a new and distinct movement, ‘Business Analytics’ has recently emerged, capitalizing on the ‘Big Data revolution’. These developments present both a threat to and an opportunity for the OR community. This paper reviews these developments from an OR practice perspective and suggests how the OR community should respond in order to ensure long term survival. 
Reassessing the scope of OR practice: The Influences of Problem Structuring Methods and the Analytics Movement