The future of EADM: Four years later

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Last Updated on Friday, 30 November 2012 10:12

Written by Nicolao Bonini

The future of EADM: Four years later (Nicolao Bonini)

Following SPUDM in Warsaw, Robin Hogarth addressed, in the first Presidential column, the issue of what EADM can do besides supporting SPUDM conferences. The three long-term goals that he listed all relate to how to “increase the image of decision research in Europe – to have positive effects on research funding, academic positions, and influence that reflects our unique knowledge”. There follow some comments and proposals. 

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Weighting value and fit in academia

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Last Updated on Saturday, 10 November 2012 19:19

Written by Ilana Ritov

I would like to share with the readers my thoughts about three different issues I have recently been asked to consider and express my opinion about. I believe many of us encounter these questions, and some may have very different answers. The first issue involved hiring new faculty. Candidates were considered for a job opening in my department. As is so often the case, two leading candidates emerged. One of them is doing highly interesting work, and pursuing issues that seem to me important. The other's work is somewhat less exciting, but is considered to better fit the departmental "needs". I argued in favour of the former candidate, apparently weighting the intrinsic value of theresearch over and above the matching of the candidate's interests with those of the department.

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"Cool stuff" vs. "incremental" in JDM research

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Last Updated on Sunday, 22 April 2012 21:50

Written by Ilana Ritov

In my previous column I argued for weighting intrinsic value over and above fit. One of the examples I gave involved an editorial decision about a paper. I suggested that the main goal of a journal should be to publish interesting papers. In this column I want to raise the question of what an interesting paper is or should be. This question is also linked to the increasingly criticized criteria for publication.

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Does anyone know what's going on out there?

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Last Updated on Monday, 16 July 2012 10:45

Written by Robin Hogarth

Everyone has been affected - one way or another - by the financial crisis that hit the world in 2008. To me, the most amazing phenomenon has been the inability of the world's leaders (whether social scientists, government officials, or business executives) to predict what was going to happen and to take protective actions in time. Sure, there had been many warnings that house prices were overvalued in many parts of the world and that people had been borrowing too much. However, no one really foresaw how quickly everything would unravel and the mammoth consequences that occurred. Indeed, if you had been given an accurate forecast about a year ago, it is quite likely that you would have not known what to make of it. After all, there is always somebody who is making "outlandish" predictions.

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