PRESIDENT'S LETTERby Larry P. Ritzman, Boston College A HIDDEN ASSETThis title may have you searching in despair for any kind of theme or continuity in this year's series of President's Letters. In searching for a common thread in the last three letters, let me briefly summarize them.The ``New Growth from Previous Growth'' letter spoke of the renewal process that occurs each year when new people take over the helm as officers, committee chairs, committee members, track and session chairs, and the like. The infusion of new ideas and energy from these new contributors creates a continual improvement process for the Institute. The "Going Global" letter spoke of the Institute's growing presence on the international front. The extremely successful Second International Meeting at Seoul, the soon-to-be-formed Asia-Pacific region, and the attractive list of possibilities for additional regions and international conference sites are signs of this growing strength. These developments help our members gain a better understanding of the globalization of business. They also make the Institute truly international in scope and membership. The "Winds of Change" letter described some of the changes underway in business education, and why the Institute is positioned well to help its members navigate the process of change and restructuring. The Institute's strengths that are particularly helpful in the change process include: its breadth, the concern for excellence in teaching, its search for both rigor and relevance in research, the vitality of its regions, and its growing international presence. To the extent that these loosely-coupled letters hang together, then, it is around the theme that the Institute has distinctive strengths that position it well for the future. However, the list of strengths identified so far is incomplete. Our Members Have More Fun! A hidden strength of the Institute is that our members really enjoy attending the meetings, networking with old friends, making new associations, trading ideas with colleagues at other universities, and even seeing some of the attractions around the conference site. The Institute's meetings truly allow us to "mix business with pleasure." Let me offer some anecdotal evidence that our members have more fun. Chris Kydd put together a panel at the Northeast Regional meeting last April in her capacity as the meeting's program chair. Perhaps inadvertently, the tape continued for a few more minutes after the session formally ended. It was instructive to see what happened. Some people in front of the camera stood up, beginning a lively conversation about what they had heard. Similar conversations began throughout the room, while some people scurried up to the head table to talk more with the panelists. The room soon was filled with a roar of voices and occasional laughter. It was clear that the learning process did not finish when the session ended. It was also apparent that the attendees thoroughly enjoyed interacting with their counterparts from other universities. I have heard from many people that the sessions at this year's annual meeting were, with rare exceptions, of very high quality and well attended. The papers had good content, were well prepared, and were professionally presented. Questions were fielded well and discussants offered helpful insights. What made the sessions particularly enjoyable, however, were the good discussions that followed the papers. These discussions had a friendly, relaxed tone to themþone that is not always found at other conferences. The atmosphere was one of mutual support, encouragement, and helpfulness. Our executive director, Carol Latta, received considerable feedback on the Washington meeting. Characterizations such as "very enjoyable" and "the best ever" were typical. Even people attending for the first time commented on the friendly, supportive atmosphere. Perhaps this feeling was best expressed by Hiro Kono, who came from the Keio University in Japan. Upon his return he wrote in a letter to Craig Wood at the University of New Hampshire, "I really appreciate the high quality, `at home' atmosphere, and good people of the Decision Sciences Institute." Empirical support for the notion that our members "have more fun" comes from Bob Parsons, our excellent Member Services Coordinator. He surveyed authors planning to attend last year's annual meeting in San Francisco, providing the Board of Directors with some valuable quality control statistics. Respondents (n = 231) were asked to rate ten characteristics of annual Decision Sciences Institute meetings, both in terms of importance (1 = low importance and 7 = high importance) and satisfaction (1 = low satisfaction and 7 = high satisfaction). The items given in Table 1 are sequenced from top to bottom according to the average member response on the satisfaction scale. Perhaps the most surprising finding is the item that ranks firstþinteracting informally with colleagues in one's own discipline. Such informal interaction gets the highest scores on both satisfaction (6.3) and importance (5.8). It even ranks ahead of formally presenting one's research and receiving useful feedback on it. The chats in the hallways after a session, during the coffee breaks, and over a meal are highly prized, and are particularly satisfying to people attending Decision Sciences Insititute meetings. It is also noteworthy that the scores are quite high and that there is a good deal of correlation between item importance and satisfaction. Members who place a good deal of importance on an item almost always are satisfied with what the Insitute provides. Perhaps this is why 84% of the survey participants now see the Insitute as their primary professional/scholarly organization. This percentage is up from 54% in 1990. Congratulations to the Member Services Committee, our wonderful Home Office, the officers, and particularly the members throughout the Institute who make such achievements possible! Embracing New Members While these statistics are very good news, there is no room for complacency. It is particularly important that our more established members expand their networks to embrace new members. New members are coming from several sources. One source is the regions. People often attend regional meetings for several years before getting involved at the annual meetings. In fact, this was the case with Joyce Mehring, from the University of Massachusetts - Lowell, who won the complimentary airline ticket awarded by the Institute's travel agent this year. It was her first annual meeting after having attended several regional meetings. Another potential source of many new members is the many students who have participated in our Doctoral Consortium during the last few years, and who have now settled into their first job placement. A third source is people whose primary home is not the Institute, but see it as a valued second meeting that allows them to look across functional boundaries. Still another source will be the new international regions. We must make sure that the friendliness and at-home atmosphere that Hiro Kono senses at the Instititute is not lost with growth and change. We must preserve this hidden asset of the Institute--one that makes it special and distinctive.
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