Abstract

This year’s Keynote has a special format. The interest in Community OR has taken the form of a new Special
Interest Group that is presently taking shape. To contribute to a better understanding of the variety of interest
that is being incorporated, we have invited a number of people to present their ideas as short presentations
or pitches. Below you will find an outline of what we have today. These may help to summarise the current
thinking and (research) practices in Community OR. The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion.
Social Innovation and Community OR Communities are the main addressees for sustainable change and
improvement, at least in the European Union. There are some considerable difficulties here, as the cry for
policies that are effective in delivering this change is getting stronger and communities are getting better in
avoiding being addressed as stooges. At present OR explores contributions to the policy problem (see the
new SIG for Social Policy). It is argued that policy should be supportive to community level activities and
initiatives, rather than the reverse, if social innovation is to be promoted. Examples are presented. Organising
Suppliers: Chain or commune? Economy-based supplier structures are organised under drivers that aim at the
alignment of goals and the optimisation of resources available; however, this does not seem to apply to any
size of business. Observations on microbusinesses suggest that they do not strive for economic drivers only.
Lifestyle, family and other non-economic drivers are also part of their strategic decision making processes.
Different snapshots about UK and Mexican microbusinesses are used to illustrate possibilities that supply
chains and communities may provide. Community OR ideas are used as a framework for the comparison.