In this Brief, we take a look at the use of simulations as a tool to help sales people with a complex sale (high value, multiple aspects to consider). Our spotlight is on the 3-course Mastery Series in Optimization Research, which starts January 10 with:
Jan 10 – Feb 7: Optimization with Linear Programming
See you in class!
Simulating the Complex Sale
Every 30 minutes a new business book is published; most of them along the lines of “Smith did this, Smith was successful, therefore if you do this, you will be successful.” Very few, though, provide definitive answers in an area where analytics can help – mastering the complex sale […]
Historical Spotlight: Statistical Analysis and Human Rights
In the early 1890’s, Edmund D. Morel, a young English clerk, made frequent trips to Antwerp to review data on the trade between Belgium and the Congo on behalf of the shipping firm that held the contract. Analyzing the data, Morel noticed a striking fact: […]
Course Spotlight
Our spotlight this week is on the Operations Research Mastery Series, which is all about optimizing decision-making. You will learn how to:
- Maximize profits or minimize costs with linear programming
- Extend these optimization techniques with integer and nonlinear programming
- Determine optimal routing through a network (the “traveling salesman problem”)
- Deal with decision problems with multiple objectives
- Use queuing theory to set optimal resource allocations (e.g. staffing in a call center)
- Use simulation to determine the range of possible outcomes when dealing with multiple sources of uncertainty
- Apply the above techniques to the financial industry
The Series has four courses, from which you choose three:
- Optimization – Linear Programming (Jan 10 – Feb Feb 7)
- Integer & Nonlinear Programming and Network Flow (Sep 18 – Oct 16)
- Risk Simulation and Queuing (May 1 – May 29)
- Financial Risk Modeling (Jun 12 – Jul 10)
The three basic optimization and simulation courses are taught by Cliff Ragsdale, author of the best-selling text Spreadsheet Modeling and Decision Analysis and Professor at Virginia Tech. The financial risk modeling course is taught by Dr. Huybert Groenendaal, industry consultant with many years of experience applying optimization techniques in financial valuation, R&D portfolios and investment portfolio evaluations.
See you in class!
