Marriott used conjoint analysis, a mathematical method, to design and launch Courtyard at Marriott, a multibillion dollar business that was a new product.

AT&T used CAPS, a PC-based simulation model, to improve the operations for its customers in the eight-billion dollar 800-network market to regain more than one billion dollar business. They were able to reduce their customers' annual operating costs by about half a billion dollars. Northwest Airlines, one of their customers, reported in their latest promotion, they answered "20 percent more calls than in a similar promotion previously." They "answered it with 20 percent fewer agent hours and 27 percent less overtime," and "they booked about five percent more revenue."

U.S. Postal Service used business analytics based model to analyze an automation plan that a $12 billion investment and annual savings of $4 billion. Big Data: In the last decade, the combination of computers and the Internet has led to the availability of massive data, called big data. This availability has also led to development of mathematical algorithms and software or such applications as optimizing systems and data mining. Analytics driven by big data are enhancing companies' competitive advantages, improving their innovation abilities, and shifting their power structures.

"Courtyard by Marriott": Designing a Hotel Facility with Consumer-Based Marketing Models Author(s): Jerry Wind, Paul E. Green, Douglas Shifflet and Marsha Scarbrough Source: Interfaces, Vol. 19, No. 1, Franz Edelman Award Papers (Jan. - Feb., 1989), pp. 25-47

AT&T's Call Processing Simulator (CAPS) Operational Design for Inbound Call Centers Author(s): Anthony J. Brigandi, Dennis R. Dargon, Michael J. Sheehan, Thomas Spencer and III Source: Interfaces, Vol. 24, No. 1, Franz Edelman Award Papers (Jan. - Feb., 1994), pp. 6-28

Management Science in Automating Postal Operations: Facility and Equipment Planning in the United States Postal Service Author(s): Michael E. Cebry, Anura H. deSilva and Fred J. DiLisio Source: Interfaces, Vol. 22, No. 1, Franz Edelman Award Papers (Jan. - Feb., 1992), pp. 110-130

Describe your take away from the required readings