INFORMS Open Forum

Management Science: Six-Month Update

  • 1.  Management Science: Six-Month Update

    Posted 06-29-2018 08:12

    Dear Colleagues,

     It has been an exciting six months for Management Science. The introduction of the new editorial board paved the way to some major changes in the journal. In parallel, I asked for your comments and thoughts about the journal and the response was overwhelming. These comments have informed some of the changes we have implemented since the beginning of the year.

     Here is an update on the major changes:

     

    • Modifying Departmental Structure: This includes the introduction of three new departments: Big Data Analytics, Healthcare Management, and Revenue Management and Market Analytics; and the integration of three departments: Decision Analysis, Behavioral Economics, and Judgment and Decision Making.

     

    • Repositioning of Existing Departments: Finance has expanded its footprint to include financial technology (fintech) and Machine Learning as well as crypto-currency related technology. Information Systems has also expanded its footprint to include the development of predictive analytics that combine a methodological advance with an important and novel managerial application.

     

    • Encouraging Diverse Methodologies: Management Science is now focusing on a healthy mix of Computer Science, Operations Research, Social Science and Statistics so that the journal is truly interdisciplinary, publishing scientific research on the practice of management.

     

    • Introducing the Fast Track submission process: A submission process designed to attract short papers with high quality, original and high-impact research that is of broad interest. The intent is to disseminate high quality work quickly, while maintaining Management Science's publication standards. Today, about 10 percent of submitted papers are Fast Track papers.

     

    Overall, the board is emphasizing, independent of topic and methodology, that papers published must be relevant to the Management Science community and must focus on the science and practice of management. 

    The interdisciplinary nature of management science and the recent opportunities opened up by data science and analytics call for a special issue focusing on Data-Driven Prescriptive Analytics. The special issue is looking for papers that leverage predictive and descriptive analytics and examine significant decision-making problems in any of the application areas represented by Management Science. These include finance, healthcare, marketing, and operations. For more information, click here.

    Finally, it seems fitting, as we head to the 2018 INFORMS MSOM Conference in Dallas, Texas, that I emphasize that the initiatives described here imply a change in direction so that publications in Management Science are not only important for hiring, tenure and promotion decisions, but are also making an impact on management practice. You can read more about that in my editorial statement published at the beginning of the year.

     

    David Simchi-Levi

    Editor-in-Chief

    Management Science

    E-mail: mseic@mit.edu

     



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    David Simchi-Levi
    Professor of Engineering Systems
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Cambridge MA
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