June 1997 • Volume 24 • Number 3

The Profession's Paradox

Operations researchers are apparently satisfied with their work, their earnings and their job security, but they want more recognition and respect. So what else is new? Results from our readership survey.

By Peter Horner

Content with the size of their paychecks, convinced that operations research not only has value but should be taught to tomorrow's business leaders, yet concerned that they do not get the recognition they deserve, INFORMS members expressed mixed feelings about the state of their chosen profession in a nationwide opinion survey conducted by OR/MS Today.

The paradox that marks the profession was clearly evident in the following results: Sixty-one percent of the respondents agreed that "operations research is a growing and dynamic field," yet 69 percent indicated they were not "satisfied with the direction operations research is going." The level of dissatisfaction was 10 percentage points higher among non-academics than those on campus.

The members are less optimistic and more impatient about the state of the profession than they were five years ago. When the same questions were asked in 1991, those who agreed that OR was growing outnumbered those who disagreed by a 2-1 margin, 53.7 percent to 26.3, with 20 percent neutral. When asked in 1991 if they were satisfied with the way OR was going, 24.4 percent said yes, 42.9 said no, and 32.7 were neutral. The latest survey "forced" opinions by removing the neutral option, and a majority of the fence-sitters jumped into the contrary camp.

"The results show we have to innovate as fast as we can," says INFORMS President Art Geoffrion, a champion of innovation who has proposed about 100 initiatives for INFORMS and the profession through his "Shared Destiny Initiatives" report and other documents on his Web page (http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/art.geoffrion/amg.htm).

Interestingly, the youngest and oldest members of INFORMS are far more optimistic about the future of operations research than those in mid-career. For example, 85 percent of those under 35 years of age in the sample agree that "operations research is a growing and dynamic field" and 70 percent of those 65-and-older agree compared to just 53 percent in the 45-54 age group. There were no significant differences between academics and full-time practitioners.

ontent with the size of their paychecks, convinced that operations research not only has value but should be taught to tomorrow's business leaders, yet concerned that they do not get the recognition they deserve, INFORMS members expressed mixed feelings about the state of their chosen profession in a nationwide opinion survey conducted by OR/MS Today.

The paradox that marks the profession was clearly evident in the following results: Sixty-one percent of the respondents agreed that "operations research is a growing and dynamic field," yet 69 percent indicated they were not "satisfied with the direction operations research is going." The level of dissatisfaction was 10 percentage points higher among non-academics than those on campus.

The members are less optimistic and more impatient about the state of the profession than they were five years ago. When the same questions were asked in 1991, those who agreed that OR was growing outnumbered those who disagreed by a 2-1 margin, 53.7 percent to 26.3, with 20 percent neutral. When asked in 1991 if they were satisfied with the way OR was going, 24.4 percent said yes, 42.9 said no, and 32.7 were neutral. The latest survey "forced" opinions by removing the neutral option, and a majority of the fence-sitters jumped into the contrary camp.

"The results show we have to innovate as fast as we can," says INFORMS President Art Geoffrion, a champion of innovation who lists nearly 100 initiatives for INFORMS and the profession in his "Shared Destiny Initiatives" report and other documents on his Web page (http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/art.geoffrion/).

Interestingly, the youngest and oldest members of INFORMS are far more optimistic about the future of operations research than those in mid-career. For example, 85 percent of those under the age of 35 in the sample agree that "operations research is a growing and dynamic field" and 70 percent of those 65-and-older agree compared to just 53 percent in the 45-54 age group. There were no significant differences between academics and full-time practitioners.

Time for change
Those surveyed certainly are ready for change, any change. Seventy-five percent disagree with the notion that "operations research should stay the way it is," about the same as five years. Of course, it's a loaded statement. To many, change implies progress, and who isn't in favor of progress, especially someone working in a dynamic field like operations research?

What kind of change are we talking about? Eighty-two percent agreed that OR groups and teams should be made up of people from diverse fields. Interdisciplinarity is one of those great-sounding ideas that is seldom implemented. It's much easier to sit at a computer and work on a problem on your own rather than spend a bunch of time and energy explaining things to a team. Academicians, in particular, are trained to "think great thoughts on their own."

Perhaps the most significant negative message that came out of the survey is the often-voiced opinion that "operations researchers do not get the recognition they deserve," a sentiment shared by 73 percent of the respondents. Call it the Rodney Dangerfield syndrome, an affliction that has plagued the OR/MS community for decades. They get no respect.

How bad is it? Nearly 70 percent of the respondents agree that their "own family does not understand what operations research is."

"That shows we need to improve the INFORMS outreach program," Geoffrion says. "Recognition and respect is a human drive we all have and want more of. The results don't surprise me."

Along those same lines, an amazing 82.7 percent of the respondents believe that "operations research is a job that is hidden from those who benefit the most from it." Again, non-academics are slightly out in front on the issue, although it is interesting to note that not a single academic "strongly disagreed" while a handful of full-time practitioners did.

There are some indications in the latest survey, however, that the profession is making progress in the public relations department. Just 35 percent of those sampled agree with the statement that "no one outside my work group really appreciates operations research" compared to nearly 50 percent who felt that way five years ago.

The opinions were garnered last summer and fall via a four-page questionnaire sent to 990 domestic, non-student members of INFORMS. Those queried were asked to state whether they: 1. strongly agreed, 2. agreed, 3. disagreed, or 4. strongly disagreed with a series of 22 statements regarding operations research. Other questions dealt with computer, software and Internet use, reader interests in OR/MS Today, and basic demographic material (age, income, education, etc.).

A total of 257 surveys were returned, a response rate of 26 percent. Fifty-five percent of the respondents work full-time in the non-academic arena, 45 percent are academics at either a private or public university. The percentage of non-academic respondents is considerably higher than that in the INFORMS population as a whole, perhaps a reflection of the timing of the mailing (summer) and the fact that students and non-domestic members were eliminated from the sample.

The "state of the profession" portion of the survey was a follow-up to a similar effort conducted five years earlier [Richard Teach, 1991, "State of the Profession," OR/MS Today, October 1991].

Money talks
While the INFORMS membership may have a problem with the intangible perks of the profession, members seem happy enough with the tangibles, starting with their paychecks. Seventy-one percent agree that "operations researchers are generally well paid" compared to 22 percent who disagreed. No wonder. Of those who answered the question, 55 percent say their annual household income exceeds $100,000.

The membership is considerably happier with their pay today than they were just five years ago when 41 percent agreed that operations researchers are generally well paid, 24 disagreed and 35 percent were neutral.

Along with fat paychecks, the respondents also report a surprisingly high level of job security. When asked if they thought their "job was safe," 72.2 percent agreed, including 30.6 percent who "strongly agreed." No other question on the survey drew a higher percentage of "strongly agree" answers. Twenty percent disagreed, 3.9 percent strongly disagreed and 3.9 percent did not answer the question. Of those who did answer, full-time practitioners felt slightly "safer" than those in academia (78.7 percent to 73.2 percent).

Based on the response, one is tempted to say that the days of wholesale corporate downsizing and university department pruning are slowing down, if not coming to an end, for the OR crowd. To be sure, plenty of OR practitioners are still feeling the heat, and more than one university OR department still has an ax hanging over its head, but the widespread doom-and-gloom of the early 1990s is apparently over — at least for now. The self-employment phenomenon, tenure and the painful weeding out process that has already taken place, combined with a healthy overall economy and historic low employment, all contribute to the strong feeling among the INFORMS population that their jobs are safe.

(Student members of INFORMS nearing the end of their Ph.D. hunt and shopping for a job in academia probably aren't as secure. Judging from the INFORMS job placement program, the classified ads in OR/MS Today, surveys of business schools and anecdotes from the field, tenure-track positions for OR professors remain difficult to find.)

The large degree of job security expressed by the INFORMS membership is nearly matched by the confidence they have in their skill set and the value they believe operations research contributes to the organizations they work for. More than 50 percent (52.2) agree that "good operations research is the way to solve the economic problems of the United States"; 43.5 percent say that "hidden operations research has been behind most of the world's recent commercial successes"; and a whopping 92.2 percent agree that "MBA schools should teach operations research." The latter opinion comes at a time when operations research courses are under attack at more and more business schools.

Vote of confidence
While acknowledging that the response to the "hidden OR" question may convey a tinge of arrogance, INFORMS Past President Al Blumstein adds that it also "displays strong confidence in the field. I think I would have answered the question the same way. Operations research, in broad terms, has been behind many commercial successes. Look at manufacturing, as an example. OR has improved inventory management, JIT strategies, supply chain — OR has been a major player in all of that."

The INFORMS members' answers may sound self-serving and arrogant in some instances, but the troops aren't power mad. Consider that less than a third (32.9 percent) of the respondents agreed with the proposition that "one of the major problems of the U.S. economy is that, in corporations, MBAs gained power over operations researchers." Further, when given the following proposition to chew on - that "operations researchers would not want a managerial position if their own specialty paid an equivalent salary" - just as many agreed as disagreed. The OR/MS community isn't suffering dellusions of grandeur. They aren't looking to take over Corporate America. They just want to be remembered when the invitations to the company picnic are sent out.

"They're satisfied with their work, their earnings and their job security," Blumstein says. "They feel their skills are important and they believe everyone should learn them. There is a real sense of confidence in the field, in the contributions they make and in their colleagues' contributions, but gee, why don't people appreciate us more. Fascinating."

Why the obsession with respect and recognition?
"In the early days, we could accept the lack of respect because we were the innovators," adds Blumstein, a longtime leader in the operations research community. "No one knew who we were or what we were doing, but there was enough 'gaga' about operations research that it was very satisfying. However, after you've passed your 40th anniversary (as the Operations Research Society of America, now known as INFORMS, did in 1992) and you're going on 50, you expect the term 'operations research' to have propagated. I blame the founders for that nutty name we're stuck with."

The "nutty name," of course, has caused considerable hand-wringing in the OR/MS community for years. Many alternatives have been thrown on the table — operations management, decision science, etc. — but nothing has stuck, so, as Blumstein says, the profession is stuck with OR/MS.

Preference for Practice
No matter what name you call it, the respondents say they would rather practice it than research it — by a wide margin. Only 13.5 percent said they prefer research to practice when it comes to OR. Even those in academia prefer practice to research at nearly the same rate as those in the business and industry sector (82.5 percent compared to 86.4 percent).

"That tells me we need to better serve the full-time practitioner," Geoffrion says. "That is one of the three main themes of my year as president. Of the 1,500 papers presented in San Diego, maybe 300 were oriented toward practice. That's not bad — 20 percent — but we have to do better. We have many new initiatives designed for practitioners, including academics who practice, and need to continue pressing these vigorously."

How does the expressed preference for practice over research square with the preponderance of theoretical papers presented at INFORMS meetings and published in the Institute's journals?

"Many academics view themselves as practitioners, at least in part," Blumstein says. "And they may well enjoy the practice part of their work more than the research, but they have to do the research in order to get tenure or promoted. The full-time practitioner doesn't get any brownie points or bonuses for giving papers at meetings. It's a diversion from their main job. Academics, on the other hand, are encouraged to do it, even paid to do it. So meetings and journals are not very good representations of what people in INFORMS like to do."

The practice vs. theory battle is the OR/MS Community's version of the 100-Year War. It goes on forever. Based on the survey results and the push for more practice-friendly sessions and events at INFORMS meetings, has the pendulum swung back in favor of practice? Practice and practitioners are certainly in vogue, but academicians still hold the high ground: 68.6 percent of the survey respondents agree that "operations research is dominated by academicians." But what do we mean by "dominate"? And what do we mean by "academicians"?

Blumstein reminds us that in reality, practice and research have a symbiotic relationship; they feed off each other. "Every member of the Transportation Science Section does practice," he says. "Every member of the CPMS does practice. Every member of the Roundtable does practice.

"If you were to take the total membership and try to partition them into one camp or the other, you would find the field has certainly gone through a variety of changes. The 1970s were dominated by research and algorithmic work; the 1990s are dominated by practitioners, at least as far as what's considered chic.

"It oscillates back and forth. As the theory goes beyond what is usable, then new theory isn't terribly needed or valued. So people turn to using the theory in practice. That's where we are now. At some point, you use up some of that theory capital that's been built up. Then you have to go back and look for more capital."

According to Blumstein, the long-simmering notion that INFORMS doesn't do enough for practitioners is a bum rap.

"I think the Society very much cares about practitioners," he says. "The response you got was reflective of the number of INFORMS officers who may have academic affiliations, but are really practitioners to some degree. I think of myself as a practitioner. I practice policy research. I deal with real issues, not academic issues. I just happen to have an academic affiliation. Most of Karla's (INFORMS President-Elect Karla Hoffman, a professor at George Mason University) work involves real problems. There are many academics who are also practitioners, and they are the ones who have the discretionary time to service the Society."

Isolated Practitioners
The sense of isolation expressed by full-time practitioners is a familiar phenomenon in the OR/MS community. Corporate downsizing and restructuring over the past decade has resulted in the widespread disbanding of traditional OR groups, and dispersed many OR practitioners to other departments such as financing and planning. More than 75 percent of the practitioners in the survey sample report that their organization does not support a traditional, separate OR department. Another 13 percent describe themselves as an independent consultant, leaving just a handful working in what can be called an "OR department or OR group."

"Consulting" was the primary area of activity of 19.9 percent of the practitioners' organizations, followed by defense/aerospace (10.3 percent), military (10.3 percent), manufacturing (8.8 percent), government other than military (8.1 percent) and telecommunications (7.4 percent).

What Kind of Work
When asked to describe what type of work they personally are engaged in (check all that apply), the full-time practitioners were all over the board. The type of work mentioned most often, besides "operations research" (61 percent), included software development (36.8 percent), statistical analysis (35.3 percent), project management (33.8 percent), data management/analysis (29.4 percent), strategic planning (27.2 percent), engineering (26.5 percent), and research and development (25.7 percent) and economic forecasting/planning (19.1 percent).

Thirty percent described their job title as "analyst." Other top titles included manager (23.5 percent), consultant (19.9 percent) and engineer (10.3 percent). Just over 8 percent are corporate officers.

Of those in academia, one-third work for a private college or university, two-thirds for a state or public college or university. Seventeen percent hold the rank of assistant professor, 27 percent are associate professors, 40 percent are full professors and 10 percent are chaired professors. Fifty-six percent teach in a business/management department, 12 percent in an engineering department, 10 percent in the math/sciences and 9 percent in operations research. The remaining 13 percent are scattered in various other departments. The typical academic in the survey devotes 50 percent of his or her time to teaching, 39 percent to research and 11 percent to consulting.

Sixty-five percent of the total survey sample hold a doctorate degree, another 31 percent have earned a master's degree. More than 42 percent of the degrees were earned in the field of operations research, compared with 18.6 in business/management and 17.8 percent in engineering.

As might be expected, the INFORMS membership has developed a healthy appetite for e-mail and the Internet. Only 4 percent report they never use e-mail, while 78.5 percent say they use it at least once a day. The membership also likes to surf: 28.1 percent say they "surf the Internet" at least once a day, another 37.9 percent say they surf at least once a week. Less than 12 percent say they never surf.

More than 75 percent (76.4) consider cyberspace tools (e-mail, Internet, etc.) important to their work. Twenty percent say they have purchased something online. Given the fast-growing nature of the Internet, the percentages are no doubt higher now than they were nine months ago when the questionnaires were collected.

The Internet didn't even show up on the radar screen in 1991 when we conducted our previous "State of the Profession" survey. Today, it is impossible to ignore. During the past five years, the technology has revolutionized how the world communicates and conducts business. Meanwhile, the issues that bothered the INFORMS membership back in 1991 — the sense of isolation and the feeling that their work was unappreciated and unrecognized by Corporate America as well the general public — continue to fester. Clearly, there are some things technology can't cure.
Peter R. Horner is the editor of OR/MS Today.
For more information, put the number 2 in the appropriate space on the
Reader Service Form

E-mail to the Editorial Department of OR/MS Today: orms@lionhrtpub.com

Lionheart Publishing, Inc.
2555 Cumberland Parkway, Suite 299, Atlanta, GA 30339 USA
Phone: 770-431-0867 | Fax: 770-432-6969
E-mail: lpi@lionhrtpub.com