Career Planning and Management Development: The Unrecognized Potential of Centralized OR/MS

This paper is a commentary on the values of a centralized OR/MS Department. Careful investigation of the career paths of former OR/MS analysts suggests that the combination of technical and leadership training provided under the direction of concerned mentors within a centralized OR department yields important long-run benefits. The two principal benefits discussed are: (1) career development for individual analysts, and (2) management development for the corporation in which these analysts work.