What is INFORMS and why should I care?

For those readers who belong to INFORMS, the question “What is INFORMS?” might come as a bit of a surprise. However, INFORMS members make up only about one-quarter of the Analytics readership. The majority of readers are non-members, and most confess to knowing little if anything about INFORMS. That’s a shame, since INFORMS is a tremendous resource for anyone interested in analytics.

INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) is a nonprofit professional society, much like the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) or the AEA (American Economic Association). Governing officials – including board members, subdivision leaders, journal editors, committee members and many others – receive no compensation for their services.

Operations research came to life during World War II, the result of mathematicians working on operational problems for the military. Recognizing the vast potential of specialized mathematics for problem solving, the Operations Research Society of America (ORSA) was formed in 1952, and The Institute of Management Sciences (TIMS) a year later. The two groups merged to become INFORMS in 1995. All members practice the science of operations research.

So what is operations research (frequently referred to as simply “O.R.”), and how is it related to analytics? A telling answer can be found in a recent poll of INFORMS members. When asked about the relationship between analytics and O.R., virtually all respondents believed one existed. The exact nature of that relationship was unclear, however, with roughly an equal number of people choosing each of the following answers:

• O.R. is a subset of analytics.
  
  
• Analytics is a subset of O.R.
  
  
• O.R. and analytics intersect, but neither is a subset of the other.

Whatever the actual relationship, it’s clear operations researchers believe analytics and O.R. share close ties. Some of the confusion on the specifics can be traced to the fact that, beyond agreement that analytics involves the use of data to make better business decisions, as a field it remains somewhat ill-defined (see “What is Analytics?” Analytics, March/April, 2011).

People trained in O.R. normally take coursework in the mathematics of optimization and random processes, including some training in statistics, forecasting and the simulation of complex systems. They also learn how to use these mathematical tools to model and solve real problems. Many well-established educational programs in O.R. are housed in academic departments that may or may not have O.R. in the title. Cornell, for example, has a Department of Operations Research and Information Engineering. Georgia Tech has one of the largest and most respected O.R. programs in the United Sates in its Industrial and Systems Engineering Department.

INFORMS is a professional home to these broadly trained problem solvers. The organizations holds two major meetings each year: the INFORMS “annual meeting” held every fall and the INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics & Operations Research held in the spring. The annual meeting caters primarily to academicians and researchers and the business analytics conference to practitioners, but there’s considerable overlap. INFORMS also sponsors international meetings.

The annual meeting is by the largest of INFORMS’ meetings and typically features well over a thousand presentations given over a period of four days to about 4,500 attendees. Presentations are grouped by topic area so that it’s relatively easy to find relevant talks. Most of the presentations are academically oriented, describing the latest research findings. However, there are many non-research related activities, including tutorials, an active job fair, an exhibit hall where attendees can see the latest software and books and ample opportunity to interact with individuals interested in all facets of O.R./analytics.

The Business Analytics & Operations Research Conference is more intimate, drawing about 450 to 500 attendees. It offers many of the same activities found at the annual meeting, but the number of presentations is limited, and they are carefully screened for content and style so as to make them especially relevant for practitioners. For more information on this spring’s conference, see page 44 or click here.

INFORMS also sponsors many thematic conferences, such as the Health Applications Conference and the Marketing Science Conference. These conferences are generally associated with one of the Institute’s 11 societies or 22 sections (formal subdivisions within INFORMS). Subdivisions are typically comprised of individuals with an interest in applying O.R./analytics in more narrowly defined problem areas. Some are focused on the development of mathematical tools applicable across many application areas, such as the Optimization Society, while others are focused primarily on a particular area of practice, such as the Aviation Applications Section. One subdivision of particular note for Analytics readers is the Analytics Section, which focuses on creative uses of analytics across all disciplines. The Analytics Section is integrally involved with the Business Analytics & Operations Research Conference.

In addition to meetings, INFORMS is responsible for publishing high-quality research journals and informational magazines (including Analytics), sponsoring awards recognizing excellence in O.R./analytics, and providing a portal to a wide array of content and networking opportunities through the INFORMS Website, www.informs.org. Above all, INFORMS provides an established connection to the world of analytics: its people, its tools and its focus on data driven decision-making.

In keeping with full disclosure, I’ve been an active INFORMS member for almost 30 years and presently serve as a vice president and board member. I’ve long believed that INFORMS was essentially promoting much of what is now being referred to as analytics. Whatever the details of the proper set theoretic relation between analytics and O.R., INFORMS has a tremendous amount to offer analytics professionals from all walks. I highly recommend taking a look.