Operations Research Management Science Today - February 2003 - President's Desk

<BODY bgcolor="#ffffff" link="cc0000" vlink="cc0000" text="#000000"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br>   <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=480><tr valign=top> <td width=10><img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 hspace=4 border=0></td> <td width=470> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B><I><A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top">OR/MS Today</A> - February 2003</I></B></font><BR> <hr size="1"> <img src="cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <font face="times new roman, times"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>President's Desk</B></FONT><br> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <FONT SIZE="+2"><B>Bullish on OR</B></FONT><BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>By Thomas Cook<BR> <I>INFORMS President<BR> <A HREF="mailto:tom.cook@calebtech.com">tom.cook@calebtech.com</A></I></B></FONT><br> <hr size="1"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=12 border=0><br>    <IMG SRC="../art/cook.jpg" WIDTH="122" HEIGHT="178" HSPACE="3" VSPACE="0" ALIGN="Left" ALT="INFORMS President, Thomas Cook">My friend Tom Magnanti wrote in this column several years ago that "it's a wonderful profession" and I couldn't agree with him more. Whether you are in academia or practicing OR, I'm sure you must feel the same way. It has been a great 50 years. The accomplishments of the last 50 years have been nothing short of amazing. Our discipline has had vital contributions in winning wars, improving productivity, saving lives, and the list could go on and on. The real question facing us today is what is going to happen to our profession in the next 50 years.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> I think many people would say that OR won't exist. These people point to the fact that INFORMS membership is stagnant, OR is no longer a core part of most MBA programs, and the demise in the number of corporate OR groups as evidence that our profession is in the late stages of its lifecycle.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> Personally, I am considerably more optimistic. In fact, I am absolutely bullish on the future of our discipline for the following reasons:<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> First, in my opinion, there is a huge latent demand for our unique approach to problem solving, primarily because the world is full of complex problems that lend themselves to the kind of solutions people in our profession enjoy solving and are very good at solving. I believe that unlocking the latent demand is the key to the next 50 years for our profession.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> Second, our body of knowledge and the quantity and quality of our tools has never been richer. Researchers and practitioners have both consistently added to our body of knowledge, and INFORMS has done a marvelous job through its publications and meetings to disseminate the many breakthroughs in both theory and practice.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> Third, the data necessary to fuel our solutions is more available today than ever before. In addition, great strides have been made in many organizations to improve the quality and integrity of the data.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> Fourth, computing is no longer a cost constraint and consequently, model-based decision-support systems or systems with OR inside are now more affordable to smaller organizations, and the ROI of the solution necessary to justify the investment is vastly reduced.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> Finally, computing power and speed allows our solutions to be generated in time to make a difference. Many of the decisions our solutions support, like the 2002 Edelman Prize winner, need to be made in real-time which is increasingly feasible.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> Although I am very bullish about the future of our profession, I don't think we can take for granted that it will grow and prosper in the years ahead. On the contrary, I believe we must find ways for unlocking the latent demand for our solutions. When I ran for president of INFORMS, I said that the goal of my presidency would be to identify and implement changes to existing INFORMS programs and products, and initiate new activities that would increase the impact of our discipline on society by creating demand.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> Last year, during the time I was president-elect, I formed a Strategic Planning Committee of outstanding OR professionals from both academia and practice to help me formulate a program of initiatives that would promote practice and thus create demand. We had a number of brainstorming meetings, we met with the Roundtable several times and discussed the subject several times with the INFORMS Board. We inventoried current INFORMS' practice-oriented initiatives and programs. We brainstormed many new ideas and, with the help of John Lucas, we used a structured methodology for grouping the more than 60 initiatives into five basic strategies that we had created. This process allowed us to prioritize the existing programs and new ideas.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> We came to the conclusion that the vast majority of high priority programs/initiatives could be grouped under one strategy and that was to better market our profession. I believe, and based on last year's CESSE membership survey results, many of you believe that we, as a profession, do a poor job of marketing ourselves and our profession to the consumers of our services. It is my contention that if we don't dramatically improve our visibility, our identity and our image to key constituencies outside our discipline, we will continue to underachieve at best and could face a lingering death. I further believe that it is the responsibility of INFORMS to play a key role in marketing our profession. Consequently, in addition to trying to fulfill the normal duties of the INFORMS presidency, I am making the marketing of our profession my number one priority.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> There are a number of INFORMS members already working on this initiative, and I would welcome your input about the marketing initiative or anything else you think that INFORMS should be doing that we are not doing or things we need to improve on. Please feel free to e-mail me at <A HREF="mailto:tom.cook@calebtech.com">tom.cook@calebtech.com</A>.<BR>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=5 border=0><br>  <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1"> <CENTER><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></CENTER><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <LI> <A HREF="tocfr.html" Target="_top"><I>Table of Contents</A><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <LI> <A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top"><I>OR/MS Today</I> Home Page</A><br>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <b><i>OR/MS Today</i></b> copyright © 2003 by <A HREF="http://www.informs.org/" target="_new">the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences</a>. 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