Volume 33, Number 1, February 2006

Planning for an uncertain future calls for a shift in information management — from single numbers to probability distributions — in order to correct the "flaw of averages." This, in turn, gives rise to the prospect of a Chief Probability Officer to manage the distributions that underlie risk, real portfolios, real options and many other activities in the global economy.

• Sam Savage
• Stefan Scholtes
• Daniel Zweidler

The introduction of a new editorial board is a unique opportunity to evaluate the reputation, stature and health of the journal. It is also an opportunity to examine its mission, scope and coverage areas, the types of papers submitted and published, as well as the level of satisfaction of authors and readers. Indeed, this is the time to identify what works well, what needs to be improved and what requires significant change in direction and emphasis. Similarly, it is an opportunity to reflect on changes in the profession and society that should influence the journal. This is exactly the objective of my editorial.

From its inception, operations research/management science (O.R.) has derived its identity from the application of scientific approaches to problems arising in the real world. Well-known applications of O.R. span the gamut of economic sectors, from the government and military to manufacturing, software and services. Even within academic disciplines, O.R. ideas have penetrated numerous disciplines, such as biology, computer science, electrical engineering and medicine, to name a few. As a discipline, O.R. is still young, and the culture within this discipline may be considered as being in its formative stages.

• Suvrajeet Sen

Many O.R. researchers seek to develop models and algorithms for "real" problems (industrial, government, military, non-profit, etc.) without access to real data or authentic problem contexts. Data access can diminish the applicability and potential impact of research. Without industrial contact, problem aspects that are critical in practice may not be captured or addressed sufficiently to make the resulting research readily useable. The vitality of the field of O.R. depends on a strong interface between research and application. This well-acknowledged fact, dating back to the earliest days of O.R., remains current today (e.g., Sen [1]), and numerous initiatives have been undertaken over the years to improve the vigor of this interaction. Yet, there is no established, open forum for application specialists to make their problems and data available to the research community. This is not surprising.

• Robin Lougee

Operations research/management science (O.R.) students graduating from master's and Ph.D. programs are recognized as motivated, analytical and technically sound. The INFORMS Professional Colloquium (IPC) aims to complete the equation by arming them with the "softer" and "high-level" skills necessary for success in industrial careers as practitioners. The IPC seeks to help O.R. graduate students jump-start their careers, through a hands-on, interactive program designed to show them what to expect and what is expected of them at work. The goals of the IPC are not only to help students be successful as individual practitioners, but to help the overall reputation of the O.R. profession. A strategic goal of the IPC is also to attract and retain master's-level professionals to the INFORMS community.

• Robin Lougee
• Mary Helander

This article describes the motivation, the process and the results regarding our expanded use of teams in a capstone course with 150 students in our master's in management course. We aimed to meet the requirements of employers requiring such attributes as "leadership," "team work," "confidence," "trust" and the "ability to organize," all of which are difficult to aim for in the rigorous analytical curriculum of most management programs. We achieved our aim by expanding the size and scope of teams and present our positive experiences here. Thus, this article presents one way for instructors to leverage team design to meet the objectives of different stakeholders including employers and by providing statistical evidence regarding how well we achieved our aims.

• ManMohan Sodhi