Weverhaeuser Companv (B)In late 197

Weverhaeuser Companv (B)
In late 1971, the Manager of Operations Research was considering the future role of OR activity in the Weyerhaeuser Companv.' During the process of developing the 1972 budget the question of centralization¬decen tralization for OR had again become an issue. The group vice presi¬den ts seemed to favor decentralization while the president leaned to•ard ma,intaining a sizable unit in the corporate headquarters organization. As indicated in Appendix A, the Operations 1,'.esearch Department was organized in the early 1960s "toact as an internal managetnent i:onsulting group that will increase the company's ability to take full advantage of the new scientific management techniques, and thereby increase profits." During the 1960s the department had grown in size to a peak of thirty¬three professionals plus a clerical support staft of ten people. In 1966 a formal charter was developed to emphasize "decision systems analysis." Five organizational sections were identified as follows (see Appendix B for a description of the functions):
Management Science -Operations Research Development Corporate Decision Systems
Timberlands/Wood Products Decision Systerns
Pulp Based Products Decision Systems
Scientific Computing Services
In 1971, the Manager reiterated that the "OR Department's role ever since its inception in 1962 has been to help improve decision making in the company." It has achieved this through the following key activities: