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The 40th anniversary of the Operations Research Society of Japan
PII:
Omega, Int. J. Mgmt Sci. Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 143±145, 1998 # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0305-0483/98 $19.00 + 0.00 S0305-0483(98)00016-4
Foreword The 40th Anniversary of the Operations Research Society of Japan
1. INTRODUCTION
The Operations Research Society of Japan (ORSJ), founded by 305 members in 1957, celebrated its 40th anniversary on May 23, 1997. As of July 1st 1997, the ORSJ had 2617 regular members and 342 student members along with 164 corporate memberships. The Society has been involved in various IFORS activities and is its second largest member. The ORSJ has been implementing many special activities to celebrate its 40th anniversary (1957±1997), some of which are brie¯y summarized below. 2. ORSJ: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Our ORSJ holds two-day National Conferences twice a year. Approximately 350 members participate in the national conferences and make their presentations whose ®nal results are usually documented by a conference book containing about 150 abstracts on average. The fall conference is usually held in Tokyo or its vicinity and the spring conference in other cities. The ORSJ publishes the following two periodicals: (a) The Journal of the Operations Research Society of Japan is a quarterly ¯agship journal of original academic research papers. Volume 40 (1997) consists of 608 pages and contains 42 papers. (b) The Communications of the Operations Research Society of Japan, a monthly journal, provides our members with news, state-of-the-art techniques and theories of OR/MS (Operations Research and Management Science), and other information related to research, pedagogy and other OR/MS related topics. Each 143
issue features a special topic selected from various ®elds of OR/MS as well as other peripheral ®elds surrounding OR. Some examples which appeared in the issues of Vol. 42 (1997) include `Methods of Analyzing Business Processes', `OR Practices in the Fields of Communication and Information Processing', `Electronic Money' and `OR Education for High School Students'. In addition to the national conferences and academic publications, our Society provides formal and informal supports for 15 special interest groups on various OR/MS areas, including Mathematical Programming, Queuing Theory, Financial Engineering, Discrete-event Simulation, Global Infrastructure Projects, Marketing, Energy Industry, and other research areas. Since the ORSJ became a member of IFORS in 1960, we have contributed to its various activities. For example, we have sent delegations to every triennial conference. Seventy-one of our members attended the 14th Conference held in Vancouver as the 4th largest delegation. Our Society hosted the 7th Conference held in Tokyo and Kyoto in 1975 jointly with the 22nd TIMS International Conference. Dr Takehiko Matsuda served as the President of IFORS for the period 1974± 76, Dr Masao Iri and Dr Toshiharu Hasegawa served as Vice-Presidents for the periods 1983±85 and 1995±97, respectively. The APORS (The Association of Asian±Paci®c Operational Research Societies within IFORS) was ocially launched on March 21, 1985, at the ®rst Council Meeting held at Tsukuba Science City in Japan. The ORSJ hosted the meeting and became one of the founding
144
Foreword
members, together with the other OR Societies of Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore. The APORS also holds its triennial conferences, and our Society hosted the 3rd Conference held in Fukuoka in 1994 under the theme entitled `Development in Diversity and Harmony', following the ®rst one in Seoul hosted by the Korean Society and the 2nd one in Beijing hosted by the Chinese Society. The 4th Conference, hosted by the Australian and New Zealand Societies, was held in Melbourne in December, 1997. More than ninety of our members participated in the APORS international meeting. 3. SPECIAL SYMPOSIUM
A special symposium celebrating our 40th anniversary was held in Tokyo on June 2, 1997 and was attended by more than 300 regular members and individuals. Congratulatory messages were received from all over the world, including from Dr Peter C. Bell (President of IFORS), Dr Saul I. Gass (VicePresident of IFORS and INFORMS), Dr Arthur Georion (President of INFORMS), Dr Japhet S. Law (President of Hong Kong OR Society), Dr Jesus T. Pastor Ciurana (President of Spanish Statistical and OR Society), Dr Xiang-Sun Zhang (President of Chinese OR Society), and Dr Helle R. Welling (Secretary of IFORS). After the opening session and Dr Jiro Kondo's keynote speech, three academic guest speakers expressed their views on `New Trends in OR', in talks entitled `New Trends in Management Science' by Dr K. Tone (President of ORSJ), `Half a Century and the Future of Mathematical Programming' by Dr T. Ibaraki (Kyoto University), and `Stochastic Models, Simulation, and Related Topics' by Dr M. Fushimi (University of Tokyo), respectively. In the afternoon session, two guest speakers expressed their concerns as practitioners under the titles: `Information-oriented Society and Management' by Mr K. Kitashiro (President of IBM Japan, Ltd.) and `Politics in the New Era' by Dr Y. Hatoyama (Member of the House of Representatives and Council Member of ORSJ). In addition to the national symposium, the ORSJ organized similar but somewhat dier-
ent types of symposia at its six chapters (regional oces) during the latter half of 1997. In such regional symposia, future research directions and educational issues are enthusiastically discussed from regional perspectives and concerns by many researchers, practitioners and other individuals who are closely related to OR/MS.
4. INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTION
The ORSJ has established several international cooperative programs for the promotion of OR. For instance, in commemoration of this 40th anniversary, the Society will donate two million yen (approximately $18,000) to support IFORS `99, which will be held in Beijing. The fund will be used to support participants from developing countries in the IFORS `OR in Development' prize competition.
5. PUBLICATIONS
The ORSJ has been planning various academic contributions for research (including publication of current research eorts) and pedagogical developments at the high school level of education as well as undergraduate and graduate levels of education. This Special Issue on `Evaluating Performances for Activities in Paci®c Rim Countries' may be considered as one of our research contributions. Another research eort is the planned publication of a series of advanced books on OR/MS by senior members of our Society. It is currently envisioned that eighteen books will be published by the year 2000 under the series title: `New Frontiers in Management Science'. These books are expected to become an information basis for graduate education and practitioners who are interested in OR/ MS applications. Furthermore, the ORSJ plans the development of various computerbased pedagogical materials and introductory textbooks on OR/MS for high school students, college students in the ®elds of humanities and social sciences, policy makers and corporate leaders who do not have an educational background in OR/MS.
Omega, Vol. 26, No. 2
6. TOWARD THE 21ST CENTURY
Japan has been suering from economic stagnation for several years, and some countries in the Asian±Paci®c region are also facing an economic crisis. Besides the economic issue, it is widely recognized that environmental issues are one of the most important global social problems. Our Society would like to make all possible eorts to address these matters in cooperation with other OR Societies around the world. Finally,
145
it is hoped that our profession, Operations Research and Management Science, will contribute to the resolution of both economic and social diculties, consequently bringing sustainable economic growth and social prosperity to all corners of the world. JIRO KONDO
Operations Research Society of Japan Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo Japan
Omega, Int. J. Mgmt Sci. Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 143±145, 1998 # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0305-0483/98 $19.00 + 0.00 S0305-0483(98)00016-4
Foreword The 40th Anniversary of the Operations Research Society of Japan
1. INTRODUCTION
The Operations Research Society of Japan (ORSJ), founded by 305 members in 1957, celebrated its 40th anniversary on May 23, 1997. As of July 1st 1997, the ORSJ had 2617 regular members and 342 student members along with 164 corporate memberships. The Society has been involved in various IFORS activities and is its second largest member. The ORSJ has been implementing many special activities to celebrate its 40th anniversary (1957±1997), some of which are brie¯y summarized below. 2. ORSJ: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Our ORSJ holds two-day National Conferences twice a year. Approximately 350 members participate in the national conferences and make their presentations whose ®nal results are usually documented by a conference book containing about 150 abstracts on average. The fall conference is usually held in Tokyo or its vicinity and the spring conference in other cities. The ORSJ publishes the following two periodicals: (a) The Journal of the Operations Research Society of Japan is a quarterly ¯agship journal of original academic research papers. Volume 40 (1997) consists of 608 pages and contains 42 papers. (b) The Communications of the Operations Research Society of Japan, a monthly journal, provides our members with news, state-of-the-art techniques and theories of OR/MS (Operations Research and Management Science), and other information related to research, pedagogy and other OR/MS related topics. Each 143
issue features a special topic selected from various ®elds of OR/MS as well as other peripheral ®elds surrounding OR. Some examples which appeared in the issues of Vol. 42 (1997) include `Methods of Analyzing Business Processes', `OR Practices in the Fields of Communication and Information Processing', `Electronic Money' and `OR Education for High School Students'. In addition to the national conferences and academic publications, our Society provides formal and informal supports for 15 special interest groups on various OR/MS areas, including Mathematical Programming, Queuing Theory, Financial Engineering, Discrete-event Simulation, Global Infrastructure Projects, Marketing, Energy Industry, and other research areas. Since the ORSJ became a member of IFORS in 1960, we have contributed to its various activities. For example, we have sent delegations to every triennial conference. Seventy-one of our members attended the 14th Conference held in Vancouver as the 4th largest delegation. Our Society hosted the 7th Conference held in Tokyo and Kyoto in 1975 jointly with the 22nd TIMS International Conference. Dr Takehiko Matsuda served as the President of IFORS for the period 1974± 76, Dr Masao Iri and Dr Toshiharu Hasegawa served as Vice-Presidents for the periods 1983±85 and 1995±97, respectively. The APORS (The Association of Asian±Paci®c Operational Research Societies within IFORS) was ocially launched on March 21, 1985, at the ®rst Council Meeting held at Tsukuba Science City in Japan. The ORSJ hosted the meeting and became one of the founding
144
Foreword
members, together with the other OR Societies of Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore. The APORS also holds its triennial conferences, and our Society hosted the 3rd Conference held in Fukuoka in 1994 under the theme entitled `Development in Diversity and Harmony', following the ®rst one in Seoul hosted by the Korean Society and the 2nd one in Beijing hosted by the Chinese Society. The 4th Conference, hosted by the Australian and New Zealand Societies, was held in Melbourne in December, 1997. More than ninety of our members participated in the APORS international meeting. 3. SPECIAL SYMPOSIUM
A special symposium celebrating our 40th anniversary was held in Tokyo on June 2, 1997 and was attended by more than 300 regular members and individuals. Congratulatory messages were received from all over the world, including from Dr Peter C. Bell (President of IFORS), Dr Saul I. Gass (VicePresident of IFORS and INFORMS), Dr Arthur Georion (President of INFORMS), Dr Japhet S. Law (President of Hong Kong OR Society), Dr Jesus T. Pastor Ciurana (President of Spanish Statistical and OR Society), Dr Xiang-Sun Zhang (President of Chinese OR Society), and Dr Helle R. Welling (Secretary of IFORS). After the opening session and Dr Jiro Kondo's keynote speech, three academic guest speakers expressed their views on `New Trends in OR', in talks entitled `New Trends in Management Science' by Dr K. Tone (President of ORSJ), `Half a Century and the Future of Mathematical Programming' by Dr T. Ibaraki (Kyoto University), and `Stochastic Models, Simulation, and Related Topics' by Dr M. Fushimi (University of Tokyo), respectively. In the afternoon session, two guest speakers expressed their concerns as practitioners under the titles: `Information-oriented Society and Management' by Mr K. Kitashiro (President of IBM Japan, Ltd.) and `Politics in the New Era' by Dr Y. Hatoyama (Member of the House of Representatives and Council Member of ORSJ). In addition to the national symposium, the ORSJ organized similar but somewhat dier-
ent types of symposia at its six chapters (regional oces) during the latter half of 1997. In such regional symposia, future research directions and educational issues are enthusiastically discussed from regional perspectives and concerns by many researchers, practitioners and other individuals who are closely related to OR/MS.
4. INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTION
The ORSJ has established several international cooperative programs for the promotion of OR. For instance, in commemoration of this 40th anniversary, the Society will donate two million yen (approximately $18,000) to support IFORS `99, which will be held in Beijing. The fund will be used to support participants from developing countries in the IFORS `OR in Development' prize competition.
5. PUBLICATIONS
The ORSJ has been planning various academic contributions for research (including publication of current research eorts) and pedagogical developments at the high school level of education as well as undergraduate and graduate levels of education. This Special Issue on `Evaluating Performances for Activities in Paci®c Rim Countries' may be considered as one of our research contributions. Another research eort is the planned publication of a series of advanced books on OR/MS by senior members of our Society. It is currently envisioned that eighteen books will be published by the year 2000 under the series title: `New Frontiers in Management Science'. These books are expected to become an information basis for graduate education and practitioners who are interested in OR/ MS applications. Furthermore, the ORSJ plans the development of various computerbased pedagogical materials and introductory textbooks on OR/MS for high school students, college students in the ®elds of humanities and social sciences, policy makers and corporate leaders who do not have an educational background in OR/MS.
Omega, Vol. 26, No. 2
6. TOWARD THE 21ST CENTURY
Japan has been suering from economic stagnation for several years, and some countries in the Asian±Paci®c region are also facing an economic crisis. Besides the economic issue, it is widely recognized that environmental issues are one of the most important global social problems. Our Society would like to make all possible eorts to address these matters in cooperation with other OR Societies around the world. Finally,
145
it is hoped that our profession, Operations Research and Management Science, will contribute to the resolution of both economic and social diculties, consequently bringing sustainable economic growth and social prosperity to all corners of the world. JIRO KONDO
Operations Research Society of Japan Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo Japan