With the annual meeting only a few weeks away, many of you are in the process of registering for the meeting, making hotel reservations, and purchasing tickets to DisneyWorld and the numerous other Orlando attractions. To help you with your planning, much of this issue is devoted to items and announcements pertaining to the meeting. Lori Franz and her Program Committee have gone to great lengths to organize a meeting for you which is diverse and intellectually stimulating.

There are many new features this year including the cross-listing of sessions by functional areas and interdisciplinary themes, and the inclusion of two new "conferences within a conference" on Ph.D. and undergraduate programs to accompany last year's highly successful MBA mini-program. I hope you will be in Orlando to share in these experiences. By now, you should have received the tabloid-sized preliminary program. I would like to remind you that there is also an electronic version on the Web (http://www.gsu.edu/~dsiadm/) which is updated periodically.

This issue also has special significance for me for another reason. This is my last issue as editor of Decision Line. I have enjoyed being editor immensely, but it is time for new leadership and fresh ideas. Beginning with the December/January 1997 issue, Barbara Flynn, Wake Forest University, will be assuming the responsibilities of editor. I know that you will work with her and share your ideas for Decision Line with her as you have with me over the last three years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have contributed items for Decision Line, and to give a special thanks to each of my feature editors. My sincerest thanks and appreciation also go to Hal Jacobs, managing editor, who has made this job so enjoyable. His organization, efficiency, ideas, and gentle disposition have made Hal a delight to work with.

In this issue, we have a number of interesting and informative articles for your reading enjoyment. Betty Whitten, president of the Institute, leads off with the "President's Letter," which focuses on the upcoming annual meeting. Betty reviews the program schedule and some of the numerous workshops and special offerings which will be available. The "International Issues" column features Julie Kendall, Rutgers University, discussing the use of metaphors in international business. She explains how metaphors can affect dealings between different organizations or cultures, and presents some metaphors related to the information systems area.

In the "Production/Operations Management" column, Ronald Matthews, Cornell University, describes an innovative approach for teaching manufacturing at the graduate level. The new format revolves around a 15-credit course which allows the students to focus all of their attention for an entire semester on manufacturing principles and issues. The "Research Issues" column features a discussion by Cornelia Dröge, Michigan State University, on the validity of measurements in research. She reviews the concepts of reliability and validity of measurements, and describes their importance in reaching valid research conclusions.

In the last installment of the "Information Technology" column (July 1996), Lance Eliot, Eliot & Associates, reviewed the current downsizing trend within IT shops. In this issue, he discusses the downsizing measure followed by some firms where the CEO also takes on the duties of the Chief Information Officer. He presents some pros and cons for such an arrangement, along with thoughts on how to weigh these factors. Jeffrey Camm, University of Cincinnati, is the featured writer in this installment of the "Doctoral Issues" column. He discusses the academic job market, and points out several ways in which job candidates may distinguish themselves from their competition.

Andrew Vazsonyi, University of San Francisco, uses "The Specialist with a Universal Mind" as a forum to discuss the models we teach in P/OM. He concludes that many of the models that we teach lack a process orientation, and that more needs to be done to enhance the relevance of the these models. The "Software Review" column features a review of SPSS for Windows 95 by Jack Yurkiewicz, Pace University. His review summarizes the features, reliability, and his general impressions of SPSS Version 7, and concludes that it is an excellent package. In the "From The Bookshelf" column, Katherine Chudoba, University of Virginia, addresses technology to support the work of teams. She stresses the importance of focusing on the organizational setting in which technology is used by teams, and reviews two books which deal with different aspects of this issue.

I am sure that you will agree that this is an interesting collection of articles, and I hope that among these you will find several that are relevant to you. See you in Orlando!