Spring 2009

As the meeting went on, the operations research consultant sensed that he had an engaged audience. Whether everyone in the room agreed that he was the best person for the job, however, was well beyond his ability to forecast.

• Warren Lieberman

IT’S POSSIBLE TO understand the theory of simulation but not know how to practice it to solve a problem in the real world. Simulation practice requires training, experience and professional judgment. This is achieved through time, similar to apprenticeship, during which the trainee is involved with numerous projects from problem definition to writing the final technical report under the close supervision of an experienced simulation consultant or practitioner.

• Jerry Banks
• Randall Gibson

ALL U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS are historic, but the most recent one was a doozy! The nomination and election of Barack Obama as president was dramatic, exciting and filled with surprises. Prior to the Iowa Caucus, for instance, Hillary Clinton was thought to be a shooin for the Democratic nomination, and her campaign expected that John Edwards would be her chief rival. Prior to his victory in New Hampshire, John McCain’s campaign for the Republication nomination was declared dead. Over the course of the election, voting patterns changed, the distribution of the red and blue states was altered, and an unexpected tidal wave of new, exhilarated younger voters emerged, determined to make their voices heard.

• James J. Swain

OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS, methodologies have been developed to deal with “wicked problems” or “messes” that are beyond the reach of the traditional, mathematical modeling methods of operations research (O.R.). These methodologies are structured and rigorous but non-mathematical. Examples include Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), cognitive mapping/SODA and the Strategic Choice Approach (SCA). Collectively they are known as Soft O.R., Soft Systems or Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs), and they have been accepted as an important part of O.R. almost everywhere with one notable exception - the United States.

• John Mingers

DISASTERS ARE WREAKING HAVOC on human lives and nations’ economies at an alarming – and rising – rate. According to the World Economic Forum, more than 180,000 deaths and more than $200 billion in economic losses occurred in 2005 alone. Whether it’s a tsunami in the Pacific or a national event such as Hurricane Katrina, governments, non-profit organizations and private industries need to be better prepared to respond and recover from disasters, offering timely and necessary aid to those in need through efficient humanitarian supply chains.

• Özlem Ergun
• Pinar Keskinocak
• Julie L. Swann
• Monica Villarreal

DEPLOYING THE POWER of analytics for competitive advantage is the focus of the INFORMS conference, Applying Science to the Art of Business, set for April 26-28 in Phoenix, Ariz. Leading companies will share their analytics best practices in presentations by executives from Southwest Airlines, McDonald’s, HP, American Express, IBM, Merck and many more. Prominent academics from universities such as MIT Sloan School, Stanford, Arizona State, Northwestern, UC-Irvine and others will provide training on strategy and O.R. methodologies.