Ithaca, NY.  Decision analysis as the route to strategic decisions at Unilever will be the headline topic at Palisade Corporation’s 2009 User Conference in Jersey City, New Jersey, October 21 and 22.  The fast-moving consumer goods giant is undergoing a cultural change in the way the company approaches strategic decision making, and Dr. Sven Roden, a senior decision analyst with Unilever’s Finance Academy, will discuss how Unilever has implemented the process called Decision Making Under Uncertainty.  Using Palisade’s DecisionTools Suite, Unilever has applied Decision Making Under Uncertainty to hard-to-resolve questions in product development, regulation, safety, and corporate acquisitions. Dr. Roden’s presentation will provide the details of how several of these decisions were reached.

No stranger to Palisade user conferences, Dr. Roden will travel to the U.S. from his home base in London because "the Palisade series of user conferences provide great opportunities to meet and learn from other end-users, as well as providing an excellent blend of training and case studies.”

Last year’s conference series drew nearly 300 people from enterprises that ranged from health care to oil and gas and hospitality to finance.  Those who return for this year’s sessions will gain analytical insights from a new group of experts and learn how to optimize their use of the new features in the recently introduced DecisionTools 5.5.

This year, in addition to Dr. Roden’s presentation and software training sessions, the far-reaching agenda will also include
• Ahmad Sadaat of Momenta Pharmaceuticals on portfolio analysis in the pharma industry,
• Jay O’Connor of Turner & Townsend on project risk management,
• Dr. Clayton Graham’s “Game Plan for Successful Sports Wagering,”
• Consultant Andrew Sleeper’s Design for Six Sigma strategy to accelerate product      development,
• Dr. Robert Ameo on interpretive and ethical considerations in using Monte Carlo    simulations, and
• Dr. William Strauss speaking on economic stimulus and the outlook a hundred years from now.

The 2009 user conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City, October 21 and 22.

Members of the press are welcome.  To make arrangements, get in touch with Jameson Romeo-Hall: email [email protected], telephone 607-277-8000, ext. 334.