Choi Tsan-Ming
Business Division, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Ann Oper Res. 2021 Mar 5:1-17. doi: 10.1007/s10479-021-03973-w.
COVID-19 is affecting all walks of life. To deal with it, we need to make use of scientifically sound tools and models. Operations research (OR), as a well-established field which focuses on deploying analytical tools to solving decision making problems, comes to the rescue. In this paper, by examining the OR literature and practices related to pandemics (including COVID-19), we discuss what OR can help to tackle challenges under COVID-19. We classify the literature into three stages, namely "before pandemic", "during pandemic" and "after pandemic". We examine the related literature and reveal the respective research areas and OR methods employed. Then, we propose a future research agenda. Finally, we establish the sense-and-respond OR framework regarding what specific actions should be taken to cope with COVID-19 from the perspectives of governments, healthcare and non-profit-making organizations, and businesses. We believe that the findings of this paper lay the solid foundation to stimulate further OR studies to combat COVID-19.
新冠疫情正在影响各行各业。为应对这一情况，我们需要运用科学合理的工具和模型。运筹学（OR）作为一个成熟的领域，专注于运用分析工具解决决策问题，此时便发挥了作用。在本文中，通过审视与大流行病（包括新冠疫情）相关的运筹学文献和实践，我们探讨了运筹学如何有助于应对新冠疫情下的挑战。我们将文献分为三个阶段，即“疫情前”“疫情期间”和“疫情后”。我们研究了相关文献，揭示了各自的研究领域以及所采用的运筹学方法。然后，我们提出了一个未来研究议程。最后，我们从政府、医疗保健和非营利组织以及企业的角度，建立了关于应对新冠疫情应采取哪些具体行动的感知与响应运筹学框架。我们相信，本文的研究结果为推动进一步的运筹学研究以抗击新冠疫情奠定了坚实基础。
