Analytics: The New Competitive Advantage

HOW DO YOU DEPLOY THE POWER OF ANALYTICS FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE? That question is expected to draw more than 500 analytic professionals – both practitioners and academics – to the 2008 INFORMS spring conference on “Applying Science to the Art of Business.” Attendees will come to learn from the best practices of executives and analysts from organizations such as P&G, Schneider National, JCPenney, Intel, Pepsi, U.S. Army, The World Bank, UPS, Pitney Bowes, FAA, Mayo Clinic, HP and over 60 more. Well-known academic speakers from schools such as Stanford, Northwestern, Penn State, UNC and others will provide training on strategy and O.R. methodologies.

The 2008 INFORMS Practice Conference will be held April 13-15 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, set on the edge of the city’s famous Inner Harbor, just steps from restaurants, shops and museums. It’s a perfect location for this high-intensity meeting that has become known for high-quality presentations, structured networking opportunities, innovative programs for young researchers and graduate students, and indepth methodology and software training.

Workshops on Technology and “Soft Skills”

NEW THIS YEAR is a Soft Skills Workshop, being held as a pre-conference program on Sunday, April 13. Attendees can choose a half-day or full-day course on the interpersonal and group facilitation skills needed to work effectively with business decision-makers and those who implement analytics solutions. Other pre-conference workshops on Sunday will be offered by leading software companies and feature introductory and advanced training in technology solutions.

 The Franz Edelman Competition is a highlight of the meeting. Six finalists will demonstrate their applications of high-impact analytics during the day on Monday (see accompanying story), with the 2008 winner announced at a gala awards ceremony and banquet that evening. Admission to the banquet is included in the conference registration fee. This year for the first time, the winner of the INFORMS Prize will also be announced. The INFORMS Prize is awarded annually to the company that effectively integrates analytics into organizational decision-making and has repeatedly applied O.R. principles in novel and lasting ways.

From Analyst to CEO

CHRISTOPHER LOFGREN, CEO of Schneider National, will open the conference on Monday morning with a plenary talk on “Making the Transition from Analyst to CEO.” Holder of a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, Lofgren began his career as a supply chain analyst and later took the steps into management as VP, CIO and COO at Schneider, the largest truckload carrier in North America. Lofgren will reveal how his perspective on the value of analytics has changed as he made that transition.

On Tuesday, the morning plenary will reprise the 2008 winning Edelman presentation. In the afternoon, Edward Kaplan, Professor of Management Sciences, Public Health and Engineering at Yale University, will describe some “Adventures in Modeling.” An elected member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academies, Kaplan’s research has been reported in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Newsweek, as well as in numerous professional journals. 

Real-World Applications

THE CONFERENCE PROGRAM incorporates more than 80 sessions in eight tracks each day, including these focus areas: supply chain management, deploying analytics, health care applications, managing uncertainty, public policy and military, and decision analysis (see accompanying story). A 21-member council of practitioners and academics, chaired by Karl Kempf, Director of Decision Technologies at Intel, identified topics and invited speakers to address those topics.

Additional select presentations were chosen through a rigorous submission and review process.“We hope the program overall provides attendees with a cross-industry view of high-impact analytics applications in the real world, along with some skill-building tutorials and software training,” Kempf says.

Two special programs are designed for young researchers and graduate students nominated by department chairs or senior managers. The Young Researcher Connection provides junior faculty and young industry professionals with new perspectives into critical problems facing industry. The INFORMS Professional Colloquium offers career guidance to master’s and Ph.D. students who are interested in practice careers.

Analytics readers can register for a conference at a discounted rate of $820.Click here and use password: Analytics12. For continuing updates on the meeting, go to: http://meetings.informs.org/ Practice08; 800-343-0062 or 401-722-2595; meetings@informs. org. Early hotel reservations are advised since rooms in the INFORMS block at the Marriott Waterfront may sell out before the cut-off date of March 14.