Optimize is a 70,000 circulation magazine aimed at CIOs and CTOs. The topic of the May, 2006 issue is “Operational Excellence”, and it contains a host of articles about operations research, one done by yours truly. My article, entitled “CIO as Business Predictor” tries to talk about the role uncertainty plays in decision making and how OR approaches can help address these issues. The sidebars in the article describe the finalists in this year’s Edelman Competition.
A second article, entitled “Bringing Unity to Cardinal Health”, described how IT and operational excellence go hand-in-hand. There is a sidebar of an interview with Irv Lustig from ILOG on the how IT and OR interact.
The Editor’s Note to the issue also talks about OR quite a bit, and says some very nice things about me! I think I will get it framed and send to my mother.
Between this and the coverage by Stephen Baker from Business Week, OR is getting noticed quite a bit these days in the more mainstream press.
Everyone should be aware that the reason that OR is getting more attention in the mainstream press is because INFORMS is investing in the PR activity by retaining a public relations firm. My interview occurred because of that investment. Stephen Baker came to the INFORMS Practice meeting because of that investment. People in OR need to let the INFORMS leadership know that they view this as an important activity, otherwise it is possible that it will be removed from future INFORMS budgets.
Irv is right: the PR efforts have made a big difference. Of course, my being drinking buddies with the Editor in Chief of Information Week (the sister publication of Optimize) didn’t hurt much either! See my comments on social capital.
Optimize magazine feedback area notes that Business Week is catching up to Optimize on the role operations research has in decision making. Check out the “New Math?” part of the feedback page. I like this type of competition!