News Room

INFORMS member and Brock University professor Michael J. Armstrong, with Carleton University professor Aaron Luntala Nsakanda discuss the ins and outs of loyalty awards programs, from airline frequent flier clubs to retail stores, using their research that utilized stochastic linear programming to model and earning and redemption of points in rewards program over time. 

Scott Nestler, CAP, INFORMS member and professor with the University of Notre Dame, shares his perspective on a variety of ethical questions specific to data and analytics, and in particular, the role of the INFORMS Ethics Guidelines.

United Parcel Service Inc on Tuesday said it is rolling out a new navigation tool designed to reduce costs for the company and headaches for its roughly 60,000 U.S. package delivery drivers. The world's biggest package delivery firm - known for eliminating most left turns on routes as part of a years-long effort to cut driver miles, fuel use and accident risks - expects to have the new UPSNav technology in most of its U.S. drivers' hands by 2020. UPS is also a recipient of the INFORMS Franz Edelman Award. 

In 2012, consumers paid $32 billion in overdraft fees, which represented the single largest source of revenue for banks from demand deposit accounts, while leading to significant levels of consumer dissatisfaction and attracting attention from government regulators. In a recent study in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, researchers have found that it may be possible to help correct this problem through the application of sophisticated data analytics.