Seminar: Handbook of Optimization and Operations Management in Action, Call for Chapter Contributors

This virtual seminar launched the Handbook of Optimization and Operations Management in Action: A Practitioner's Casebook for Business and Real-World Dilemmas, a forthcoming volume designed to bridge the gap between academic theory and real-world practice in operations management and decision science. Edited by Michel Fathi, Panos Pardalos, and Marzia Khakifirooz, the handbook seeks to feature practitioner-authored case studies that capture the complexity, uncertainty, and trade-offs inherent in high-stakes operational decisions. About the Handbook The handbook targets cases across a wide range of industries and functional areas, including transportation and supply chain operations, advanced manufacturing, retail and digital platforms, financial services and FinTech analytics, AI and machine learning deployment, corporate strategy and capital allocation, risk management and AI governance, digital transformation, and critical infrastructure sectors such as healthcare, energy, and telecommunications. What distinguishes this volume is its emphasis on authentic decision dilemmas—cases where leaders balanced competing priorities under uncertainty, allocated scarce resources, deployed emerging technologies, and managed complex operational challenges. The editors explicitly noted that cases need not describe perfect outcomes; the most valuable contributions are those that reveal real tension, uncertainty, and trade-offs. The handbook is intended for use in MBA and Executive Education programs worldwide, teaching how optimization, analytics, AI, and strategic decisions are made in practice. The seminar therefore addressed not only the mechanics of case writing but also how practitioner-authored cases can effectively convey decision-making under uncertainty—a core theme in operations research and management science.