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Turning Data into Gold

Using analytics to discover your organization's hidden value

Modern organizations are under increasing pressure to harness the extraordinary volumes of data that are now available to them through advances in information technology. Their challenge is to convert huge quantities of ill-structured data to manageable amounts of organized information or 'models' that can be understood by managers and used to sharpen decision-making. This has stimulated rapid growth in a field of practice called 'Analytics' – a technically complex area spanning operations research, statistics, computer science, management information systems, and related areas. The terms Business Intelligence, Data-mining, and Big Data describe closely related practices.

In this webinar, we overview this rapidly developing area, provide some examples of successful applications, and discuss management implications.

Specific topics include:

  • Background and Growth of Analytics / Business Intelligence / Big Data
  • Examples
    • Identifying customer segments: Cluster analysis
    • Predicting customer choices: Discrete choice models
    • Choosing prices: Revenue and pricing optimization
  • Management challenges
  • Where to learn more

Session Participants

Dr. Yuri Levin

Professor of Management Analytics

Yuri Levin is QSB Distinguished Chair of Operations Management and the inaugural Director of Master of Management Analytics programme at Smith School of Business. He teaches analytical decision making, strategic analytics, and pricing analytics courses in MBA, MMA, and Executive Education programmes. He holds a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Rutgers University in the US where he taught in different MBA programmes for 3 years before joining Queen's in 2002. Yuri was the 2013 and 2014 recipient of the MBA Professor of the Year Award and the 2014 and 2015 recipient of the Master of Management Analytics Professor of the Year Award. He has developed innovative approaches and published widely in the general area of revenue management and dynamic pricing. He was a co-winner of 2013 INFORMS Revenue Management and Pricing Practice Prize for pricing and promotions analysis at Molson Coors Brewing Company and a co-winner of 2009 INFORMS COIN-OR Cup for applications of COIN-OR technologies in development of novel techniques for cargo capacity management and dynamic pricing. He was also the 2010 recipient of Smith School of Business Award for Research Achievement and 2003 New Researcher Achievement Award. Yuri is an Associate Editor of Operations Research and Journal of Revenue Management and Pricing. He served as Chair of INFORMS Revenue Management and Pricing section, Associate Editor of Management Science, and was a Guest Editor of the special issue of European Journal of Operational Research on Revenue Management and Dynamic Pricing. Yuri's research has been funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada. Yuri has consulted widely on consumer behavior modeling and optimization of pricing and developed corporate training programmes in strategic analytics, analytical decision making, and strategic pricing optimization.

Website: http://www.yurilevin.com

Dr. Jeffrey McGill

Professor & Distinguished Professor in Management Science/Operations Management

Jeff McGill is a respected researcher, teacher, and consultant in the areas of management science and operations management.  Prior to completing his Ph.D. in Management Science at the University of British Columbia, Jeff worked for over eight years in industry, first, in new product development with Domtar Limited Research Center (Montreal) and, later, in operations research at Canadian National Railways.  At Queen's, Jeff has served as Chair of the Queen's school of business research program and as program director of the Queen's MBA for Science & Technology.  He maintains an active research program with a focus on revenue management and dynamic pricing in transportation and other service industries.  In 2008, Jeff was awarded the Research Historical Prize in Revenue Management and Pricing from INFORMS (the Institutes for Operations Research and Management Science), and the Award for Research Achievement from Queen's School of Business.  In 2009, he was a co-recipient of the INFORMS COIN-OR Cup for applications of open-source computational software for operations research.  Jeff is an Associate Editor for the journal Operations Research, a Senior Editor for Production and Operations Management, and was co-guest editor for a special issue of the European Journal of Operational Research.  He is a member of the Canadian Operational Research Society (CORS) and INFORMS.