NEW BOOKS
Three prominent members of INFORMS – Arjang Assad, Saul Gass and David Simchi-Levi – have produced two new books of interest to the O.R. community. In “Operations Rules: Delivering Customer Value Through Flexible Operations,” Simchi-Levi, the editor in chief of INFORMS’ flagship journal Operations Research, examines an often overlooked key to a company’s success. Assad and Gass, a past president of The Institute of Management Sciences (TIMS, a forerunner of INFORMS), explore the history of O.R. through many of its key figures in “Profiles in Operations Research: Pioneers and Innovators.”
“Operations Rules” (MIT Press) is now available through Amazon.com, while “Profiles in Operations Research” (Springer) is expected to be released this spring.
“Operations Rules”: In recent years, management gurus have urged businesses to adopt such strategies as just-in-time, lean manufacturing, offshoring and frequent deliveries to retail outlets. But today, these much-touted strategies may be risky. Global financial turmoil, rising labor costs in developing countries and huge volatility in the price of oil and other commodities can disrupt a company’s entire supply chain and threaten its ability to compete.
In “Operations Rules,” David Simchi-Levi identifies the crucial element in a company’s success: the link between the value it provides its customers and its operations strategies. And he offers a set of scientifically and empirically based rules that management can follow to achieve a quantum leap in operations performance.
“Profiles in Operations Research: Pioneers and Innovators” traces the development of O.R. from its military origins to a mature discipline that is recognized worldwide for its contributions to managerial planning and complex global operations. O.R. originated in the late 1930s when British scientists from various disciplines joined Royal Air Force officers to determine the most effective way to employ then-new radar technology for intercepting enemy aircraft.
“Profiles” describes the lives and contributions of 43 O.R. pioneers and innovators and relates how these individuals, with varying backgrounds and diverse interests, were drawn to the O.R. field.
