American Airlines

As I have already got the job offer from the American Airlines, I am very pleased to introduce the company and my position.

American Airlines, Inc. (AA) is a major American airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Operating an extensive international and domestic network, American Airlines is the world's largest airline by fleet size and revenue, and the second largest by number of destinations served, after United Airlines. It operates from its main hub at Dallas/Fort Worth, and its hubs at Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C., while its primary maintenance base is at Tulsa International Airport. Its primary competitors are United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines.

American Airlines is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, and coordinates fares, services, and scheduling with British Airways, Iberia, and Finnair in the transatlantic market and with Japan Airlines in the transpacific market. Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name American Eagle.

(From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines)

Revenue Management is the application of disciplined analytics that predict consumer behavior at the micro-market level and optimize product availability and price to maximize revenue growth. The primary aim of Revenue Management is selling the right product to the right customer at the right time for the right price and with the right pack. The essence of this discipline is in understanding customers' perception of product value and accurately aligning product prices, placement and availability with each customer segment.

(From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue_management)

Experience: SMU is the target school for the American Airlines, especially for the revenue management department. So there is a good chance for the MSBA student in SMU to get job offer from the American Airlines.  Since AA sponsors H1B visa, it is a very good choice for international students who want to get a job in the US. Be well prepared for the resume screening, happy hour and formal job interviews. And you will get it.

A Matter of Return

I have always loved SMU! I have applied here for both my undergrad degree and my graduate degree (this MSBA program). When I was trying to choose between graduate programs, probably the biggest drawback of this program for me was the cost. The tuition here is, in fact, quite high, but there are a couple of reasons why it is completely worth it.

• You only have to pay for 1 year. For a number of the other graduate programs I was looking at, the yearly tuition was less but the program lasted 2 years. Once you multiplied their tuition by 2, SMU was either the same cost or even cheaper.

• SMU has great connections. SMU has an incredible alumni base, which makes the job search process just a little bit easier, and it gives you some connections to incredible companies. To find a pretty gob job early gives you the ability to start earning a pretty god salary early on as well.

• The Dallas area has tons of opportunities. Aside from the connections that SMU offers, the Dallas area in general has even more opportunities. There are so many companies in the Dallas area that you end with a wide array of really good companies to choose from.

• The Cox School of Business is very well-known. For companies, especially companies in Dallas, that don't already have SMU and Cox alumni employed, the Cox School of Business is still very well-known therefore giving you a leg-up when a company is reviewing your information.

I know the cost may seem high, but for me, the return I'm going to get out of this program is well worth it.

Pony Up!

Fall Semester Module B

Fall Semester Module B

Advanced Decision Models

Professor: Amy Puelz, Clinical Professor
http://www.smu.edu/Cox/Departments/FacultyDirectory/PuelzAmy

Textbook: Practical Management Science, Fourth edition by Winston and Albright.

Software: Excel and Palisade’s Decision Tool Suite software.

Contents: Goal Programming, Non-linear Model, Non-Smooth Model, VBA in Excel, stochastic optimization and Logistic Regression models.

Tips: This is the advanced version of the Decision Model in Module A. Goal programming may be the most difficult part in this course. Follow every step that the Professor presents in class and you will have no problem in success in the course.

Applied Predictive Analytics II

Professor: Michael Braun, Associate Professor

http://www.smu.edu/Cox/Departments/FacultyDirectory/BraunMichael

Textbook: No required.

Software: R.

Contents: Construct probability models of customer activity, and estimate model parameters using the method of maximum likelihood; Choose among model specifications, using quantitative and qualitative criteria; Apply Bayesian methods for inference, classification and forecasting; Model integrated customer purchase and retention processes, and how to use those models to estimate expected customer lifetime value.

Tips: This may be the most difficult course I have taken in this program so far. Each class has a lot of contents to cover and master. The theory part is on probability models and Bayesian methods. The context is marketing related, such as new product adoption, sales forecasts and customer lifetime value.  The application is R based and it involves a lot of programming work. The homework is also difficult and it usually go a little beyond class materials. The professor wants you to discover something by yourself in homework. Anyway, this is a hard course but very state-of-the-art. There is no textbook, but you rely on the Slides and several recently published academic articles.

Database Design for Business Applications

Professor: Stewart Rogers, Adjunct Professor

http://www.smu.edu/Cox/Departments/FacultyDirectory/RogersStewart

Textbook: Concepts of Database Management, 8^th Edition, Philip Pratt and Mary Last.

Software: Access and Excel.

Contents: Fundamentals of relational database design, Data Management (Table design, Input and Output, Client/Server, Administration Issues), How to talk to IT intelligently (Database Jargon, current capabilities), Excel Data Capabilities (Data Functions, Table Manipulation, In Memory DB’s).

Tips: It is an introduction level course for database. It is not hard and the concept is the basic for advanced database course. You will learn basic SQL, which is very useful.

Revenue Management

Professor: John Semple, Charles Wyly Professor of MIS

http://www.smu.edu/Cox/Departments/FacultyDirectory/SempleJohn

Textbook: Pricing and Revenue Optimization, by Robert L Phillips.

Software: Excel.

Contents: optimal pricing model, Little Woods’ two class model, n-class dynamic model, network capacity control, choice model, overbooking management.

Tips: This class is mainly a modelling class. You will use Excel to build up those models. The homework is very interesting and challenging at the same time. So you will learn both in class and in doing homework.

Fall Semester Module A

Fall Semester Module A

Applied Predictive Analytics I
Professor: Richard Briesch, Professor of Marketing, Corrigan Research Professor, Research Fellow, National Center for Arts Research. http://www.smu.edu/Cox/Departments/FacultyDirectory/BrieschRichard
Textbook: Econometric Analysis (7th Edition) by Greene; The Little SAS Book: A Primer, Fifth Edition by Delwiche and Slaughter.
Software: SAS.
Contents: Endogeneity/Simultaneous Equations, Sample Selection Correction/Tobit, Information Criteria/Model selection, Likelihoods.
Tips: This is a basically Econometrics class with SAS application. You’d better to be familiar with basic SAS coding skills, because the Professor won’t go through every detail in SAS coding, especially the basic data manipulation skills. For the theory part, the textbook is too heavy and mathematical for the class contents. So just use it as a reference book.

Business Metrics
Professor: Jacquelyn Thomas, Associate Professor of Marketing, Frank and Susan Dunlevy Faculty Fellow
http://www.smu.edu/Cox/Departments/FacultyDirectory/ThomasJacquelyn
Textbook: Marketing Metrics, Paul Farris, Neil Bendle, Philip Pfeifer, and David Reibstein
Software: Excel
Contents: Through the use of problem sets and business cases, the course focuses on the calculation of financial, marketing and operational metrics and demonstrate contexts in which managers would rely upon such metrics for decision-making.
Tips: You have to remember a lot of calculations for different kind of metrics. It is not that hard, but keep to the slides and the book.

Introduction to Business Process Analytics
Professor: Ulrike Schultze, Associate Professor 2012-2013 Dunlevy
http://www.smu.edu/Cox/Departments/FacultyDirectory/SchultzeUlrike
Textbook: No required.
Software: No.
Contents: In this class, students will learn the conceptual frameworks, tools and skills needed to develop a blueprint for analytics. This entails successfully analyzing the high-level requirements for business analytics, prioritizing and outlining solutions, proposing business process improvements to generate the requisite data, and making the business case.
Tips: This is a totally case-based class, without any programming skills requirement. But the course load will be very heavy and you have to read a lot of case before class and discuss in class. The conceptual framework is very important. Participation means a lot in this course.

Decision Models
Professor: Amy Puelz, Clinical Professor
http://www.smu.edu/Cox/Departments/FacultyDirectory/PuelzAmy
Textbook: Practical Management Science, Fourth edition by Winston and Albright.
Software: Excel and Palisade’s Decision Tool Suite software.
Contents: linear, integer, binary and nonlinear optimization models in Excel; decision trees for business decisions given uncertainty, simulation models for business decision given uncertainty.
Tips: It basically teaches operation research models with Excel applications. The Professor keeps a perfect pace of presenting how to build decision models in Excel at class. You will learn the most in class. Follow every examples in class and finish the corresponding homework, and you will get a good result.