IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orinte/v40y2010i1p33-46.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Operations Research Improves Sales Force Productivity at IBM

Author

Listed:
  • Rick Lawrence

    (IBM Corporation, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • Claudia Perlich

    (IBM Corporation, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • Saharon Rosset

    (IBM Corporation, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • Ildar Khabibrakhmanov

    (IBM Corporation, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • Shilpa Mahatma

    (IBM Corporation, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • Sholom Weiss

    (IBM Corporation, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • Matt Callahan

    (IBM Corporation, Business Performance Services, Armonk, New York 10504)

  • Matt Collins

    (IBM Corporation, Business Performance Services, Armonk, New York 10504)

  • Alexey Ershov

    (IBM Corporation, Business Performance Services, Armonk, New York 10504)

  • Shiva Kumar

    (IBM Corporation, Business Performance Services, Armonk, New York 10504)

Abstract

In 2004, IBM introduced a set of broad operations research-based initiatives designed to improve the efficiency and productivity of its global sales force. The first solution, OnTARGET, provides a set of analytical models designed to identify new sales opportunities at existing IBM accounts and at noncustomer companies. The second solution, the Market Alignment Program (MAP), optimally allocates sales resources based on field-validated analytical estimates of future revenue opportunities in operational market segments. IBM Research developed the operations research models and initial internal websites for both solutions. The IBM Software Group initially implemented OnTARGET, which was subsequently made available to over 13,000 sales representatives across IBM sales organizations worldwide. The IBM Sales and Distribution organization deployed MAP as an integral part of its sales model to better align sales resources with the best market opportunities. We describe the development of both analytical models, and the underlying data models and websites used to deliver the solutions. We conclude with a discussion of the business impact, which we estimate as hundreds of millions of dollars annually for the combined initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Rick Lawrence & Claudia Perlich & Saharon Rosset & Ildar Khabibrakhmanov & Shilpa Mahatma & Sholom Weiss & Matt Callahan & Matt Collins & Alexey Ershov & Shiva Kumar, 2010. "Operations Research Improves Sales Force Productivity at IBM," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 40(1), pages 33-46, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:40:y:2010:i:1:p:33-46
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.1090.0468
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/inte.1090.0468
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/inte.1090.0468?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ossi Ylijoki, 2018. "Guidelines for assessing the value of a predictive algorithm: a case study," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 19-26, March.
    2. Carlos Fernández-Loría & Foster Provost, 2022. "Rejoinder to “Causal Decision Making and Causal Effect Estimation Are Not the Same…and Why It Matters”," INFORMS Joural on Data Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(1), pages 23-26, April.
    3. Michael J. Davis & Yingdong Lu & Mayank Sharma & Mark S. Squillante & Bo Zhang, 2018. "Stochastic Optimization Models for Workforce Planning, Operations, and Risk Management," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(1), pages 40-57, March.
    4. Meyer, Anne & Glock, Katharina & Radaschewski, Frank, 2021. "Planning profitable tours for field sales forces: A unified view on sales analytics and mathematical optimization," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:40:y:2010:i:1:p:33-46. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.