Bridging the Academic-Practice Gap in Operations Research and Management Science: A Strategic Imperative

The discipline of operations research and management science (OR/MS) stands at a critical juncture. Although our discipline possesses an unprecedented toolset, sophisticated analytical capabilities, and methodological rigor, a persistent gap separates academic research from organizational practice. This editorial advances a three-part argument. First, the academic-practice gap represents not merely a communication challenge but a fundamental misalignment between how we measure success in academia and the value we could deliver to organizations. Second, this gap stems from identifiable structural factors—incentive systems that prioritize theoretical contribution over practical applicability, limited exposure to organizational contexts, and research trajectories that favor mathematical elegance over implementation feasibility. Third, and most importantly, closing this gap requires coordinated action across multiple levels: faculty must cultivate sustained engagement with practice, doctoral programs must prepare scholars who can bridge theoretical and practical worlds, and institutions must restructure incentives to reward research that matters beyond academic citations. This is not a call to abandon rigor but rather to ensure that rigor serves relevance: that our research fulfills OR/MS’s founding promise to help organizations make better decisions through advanced analytical methods.