Practically, I was trained as an engineer. My degrees are all in operations research, not in economics. I gravitated to economics because I'm interested in how people coordinate and collaborate with each other. Economics studies all the ways people get along with each other.
Imagine an elite professional services firm with a high-performing, workaholic culture. Everyone is expected to turn on a dime to serve a client, travel at a moment’s notice, and be available pretty much every evening and weekend. It can make for a grueling work life, but at the highest levels of accounting, law, investment banking and consulting firms, it is just the way things are.
Except for one dirty little secret: Some of the people ostensibly turning in those 80- or 90-hour workweeks, particularly men, may just be faking it.
Many of them were, at least, at one elite consulting firm studied by Erin Reid, a professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. It’s impossible to know if what she learned at that unidentified consulting firm applies across the world of work more broadly. But her research, published in the academic journal Organization Science, offers a way to understand how the professional world differs between men and women, and some of the ways a hard-charging culture that emphasizes long hours above all can make some companies worse off.
Operations Research Analyst
National median wage: $72,596
Best Cities
5. Baltimore, MD ($97,750)
4. Washington, DC ($106,960)
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Worst Cities
5. Tampa, FL ($52,830)
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Certified Analytics Professional -- INFORMS
What it's all about: The CAP certification is a rigorous general analytics certification. It certifies end-to-end understanding of the analytics process, from framing business and analytic problems to acquiring data, methodology, model building, deployment and model lifecycle management. It requires completion of the CAP exam (available at more than 700 Kryterion computer-based testing centers in more than 100 countries) and adherence to the CAP Code of Ethics.
How to prepare: INFORMS provides preview material and a Complete CAP Study Guide as an aid. It also provides free half-day CAP refresher sessions for organizations with 10 or more candidates.
First employed by World War II military planners, operations research has become a key tool in the big data age used by companies and other organizations to better allocate resources, develop production schedules, manage supply chains and set prices. It helps transport companies move freight and manage distribution, allows health care systems to improve the collection and processing of patient lab specimens, and lets supermarkets determine how best to organize products, for example.
It used to be that a theme park operator would pair an engineer with a business expert to improve queuing at rides and attractions, notes [INFORMS President] Robin Keller, a professor of operations and decision technologies at the University of California—Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business. Today, that task is handled by a single person trained in operations research.
Ashley Smith
Public Affairs Coordinator
INFORMS
Catonsville, MD
[email protected]
443-757-3578
An audio journey of how data and analytics save lives, save money and solve problems.
Millions of Americans are sweating over one of the most intrusive processes known to mankind. The IRS is in high gear as it prepares to process tax returns.
Using my face as my boarding pass to get on a flight to Oaxaca, Mexico and then as my passport to get back in the US got me thinking about how facial recognition has permeated the travel experience. To help us understand where this is going, we talk with two travel industry experts, Dr. Sheldon Jacobson and Henry Harteveldt.
There is something different about the current moment in artificial intelligence. New capabilities are emerging rapidly due to advances in computing, algorithmic development, and access to vast amounts of data. The change feels real.
The Defender’s COVID NewsWatch provides a roundup of the latest headlines related to the SARS CoV-2 virus, including its origins and COVID vaccines. The views expressed in the excerpts from other news sources do not necessarily reflect the views of The Defender.
In the early morning of March 26, Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed when a container ship struck it, killing six construction workers and severing water access to most terminals within the Port of Baltimore indefinitely. With respect to economic losses from the port closure, the temporary losses for the region look to be severe. However, there are several reasons to be optimistic about the port's recovery and a minimal long-term loss for the region and the nation.
The recent collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge following a ship collision, causing an indefinite closure of the Port of Baltimore, poses significant disruptions to the local and national supply chain. Experts warn of extended impacts, particularly on ground transportation logistics, which could reverberate through the economy.
Florida lawmakers have banned wind turbines off its shores and near the coast, saying the bill is meant to protect wildlife and prevent noise.
In December 2019, Connecticut announced the largest purchase of renewable energy in state history. Providing 804 megawatts of offshore wind power, Avangrid’s Park City Wind Project promised the equivalent of 14% of the state’s electricity supply, $890 million in direct economic development, improved grid reliability during the winter and the opportunity to slash over 25 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.