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Operational Research (OR) deals with the use of advanced analytical methods to support better decision-making. It is multidisciplinary with strong links to management science, decision science, computer science and many application areas such as engineering, manufacturing, commerce and healthcare. In the study of emergent behaviour in complex adaptive systems, Agent-based Modelling & Simulation (ABMS) is being used in many different domains such as healthcare, energy, evacuation, commerce, manufacturing and defense. This collection of articles presents a convenient introduction to ABMS with papers ranging from contemporary views to representative case studies.

The OR Essentials series presents a unique cross-section of high quality research work fundamental to understanding contemporary issues and research across a range of Operational Research (OR) topics. It brings together some of the best research papers from the esteemed Operational Research Society and its associated journals, also published by Palgrave Macmillan.

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1. Introduction 2. Tutorial on Agent-based Modelling and Simulation 3. Some Insights into the Emergence of Agent-based Modelling 4. Discrete-event Simulation is Alive and Kicking! 5. An Application of Agent-based Simulation to the Management of Hospital-acquired Infection 6. An Agent-based Simulation Approach for the New Product Diffusion of a Novel Biomass Fuel 7. Agent-based Modelling and Simulation of Urban Evacuation: Relative Effectiveness of Simultaneous and Staged Evacuation Strategies 8. Towards the Development of a Simulator for Investigating the Impact of People Management Practices on Retail Performance 9. A Multi-agent Simulation of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain 10. Workflow Scheduling Using Multi-agent Systems in a Dynamically Changing Environment 11. Credit Risk: An Agent-based Model of Post-credit Decision Actions and Credit Losses in Banks 12. The Hybrid War Model: A Complex Adaptive Model of Complex Urban Conflict 13. The Development of New Infantry Tactics During the Early Eighteenth Century: A Computer Simulation Approach to Modern Military History 14. A Generic Testing Framework for Agent-based Simulation Models 15. Successful Approaches for Teaching Agent-based Simulation

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Dr Simon J E Taylor is Reader in the Department of Computer Science at Brunel University, UK. He founded the COTS Simulation Package Interoperability Standards Group under the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization and co-founded the Journal of Simulation. He is a member of the ACM SIGSIM Steering Committee. He has published many simulation-related articles and is changing the practice of simulation in industry with advanced computing techniques such as Cloud Computing. He is also working with African scientists to develop ICT-based research infrastructures.

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