Live chat tools help boost sales for e-vendors, study finds
According to new research published in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research, live chat tools can help boost sales and increase profits.
Announcing the results of the 2026 INFORMS Board of Directors election and the new board for 2027.
INFORMS has named 12 distinguished leaders as the 2026 class of INFORMS Fellows, one of the highest honors in the profession.
Most medical devices do not hit the market through rigorous safety testing but by being deemed similar enough to something already approved—the “predicate” device through a mechanism known as the FDA’s 510(k) pathway. But similar is not a synonym for safe. While the assumption may be that substantial equivalence is a reasonable stand-in for a safety review, a share of devices cleared with this method still get recalled, and the FDA spends valuable time reviewing devices the same way, regardless of how risky it is on paper.
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According to new research published in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research, live chat tools can help boost sales and increase profits.
INFORMS, the leading international association for professionals in operations research and analytics, has selected six finalists for the 49th annual Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Advanced Analytics, Operations Research and Management Science, the world’s most prestigious award for achievement in the practice of analytics and operations research (O.R.).
CATONSVILLE, MD, January 8, 2020 – Live chat tools allow for communication between sellers and buyers. They are popular instruments for e-commerce sites that don’t have the advantage of face-to-face communication that brick-and-mortar stores do. New research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research says these live chats can actually increase sales and boost profits.
The popularity of bike-share systems has grown in popularity thanks to the younger, more environmentally conscious generation. While they have garnered considerable attention in cities from Paris to Washington, D.C., their promise of urban transformation is far from being fully realized.
In his President’s Desk column in the February issue of OR/MS Today, INFORMS President Ramayya Krishnan shares examples of how O.R. and analytics are addressing some of society’s biggest problems, and the importance of collaboration and active engagement with government and industry, other INFORMS members, and the public to ensure O.R. and analytics continue to grow in vibrancy and relevance.

OR/MS Today is the INFORMS member magazine that shares the latest research and best practices in operations research, analytics and the management sciences.
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Analytics magazine showcases articles and research reports based on big data, AI, machine learning, data analytics and other new-age technologies.
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