Profiles in OR/MS: Mark Reynolds

Questions & Answers

Q. Tell me about your educational and professional background and how you arrived at your current job as Director of the Business Optimization Group at Level 3 Communications?

A. I decided on Operations Research as a professional pursuit when I was an undergraduate engineering student. I found operations research particularly interesting because it focused on problem solving and mathematics that made sense in the business world.

After graduation, I went to work for the airline industry (both Northwest Airlines and USAirways), where I became entrenched in Revenue Management concepts and development as well as other operations research related areas. It almost seemed as if operations research was invented to solve exciting airline problems.

I was able to use my quantitative abilities in a mainstream business function when I moved from the operations research group at Northwest Airlines into a market planning function in the International Revenue Planning and Pricing group.

I find that I am constantly being pulled in two directions within the business world – practicing operation research to develop new processes, models, and systems; and being in the core business so that I can more directly contribute to the success of the organization. Level 3 provided me with the opportunity to effectively do both. We are very fortunate to have a CEO who truly believes in the power of optimization and operations research. Because he wants to embed these concepts and ideas into every part of the organization, I can practice O.R. development and make a very direct contribution to the success of the company.

Q. In a recent article by Peter Horner entitled "Something to Crowe About" in the June 2000 Issue of ORMS Today, Level 3 Communications was described to be building “The world’s first end-to-end, fiber-optic, packet-switched, Internet Protocol (IP) network”. Can you elaborate on this description and on the products and services that Level 3 Communications provides?

A. Level 3 Communications is at the forefront of the telecommunications revolution. By building state-of-the-art, communications networks that are continuously upgradeable, Level 3 will be able to disrupt the market through its low pricing. Because of the price elastic nature of demand for our products and services, this dropping price environment will help to explode the market. This is a bit counter intuitive, I admit—dropping prices as much as possible, but that is part of the telecommunications business of tomorrow—not unlike the PC and chip business of today.

Our products and services are developed to meet the needs of those organizations that will demand large amounts of bandwidth – large carriers and web-centric companies. We offer dark fiber, private lines, wavelength services, internet connectivity, colocation services, managed modem services, and voice over IP to these customers. For more information, check out Level 3 Communications’s website

Q. What are your main job responsibilities at Level 3 Communications and what are some of the OR/MS problems that you are currently working on?

A. The Business Optimization group is working with all departments in the organization to understand their business questions and formulating ways that operations research/ optimization can address those questions. Level 3 has many challenges to realize its goals and operations research will be a central building block to doing that.

My specific job responsibilities include developing and planning OR/MS support for Marketing, Sales, and Customer Operations. We must address questions such as: "How should we price our products to both disrupt the marketplace and drive silicon economics?", "How can we build an organization that can activate and manage service as rapidly as the marketplace will demand it?", "How will our mix of products change over time?", and most importantly, "In what way to we meet marketplace demand and build our network to maximize the net present value of the firm?".

Optimization is at the core of our efforts. Specifically we have a large-scale strategic optimization model that is formulated as a mixed integer, non-linear problem. We are using state-of-the-art techniques and tools to solve those problems. We are also developing routing algorithms and other optimization models to determine cost efficient and balanced ways to build and run traffic over our network. Forecasting and simulation techniques have also come in handy. It is safe to say that we need to be ready, willing, and able to address and answer some of the most difficult O.R. problems being conceived in business today. That means being able to bring state-of-the-art tools and techniques to bear to the situation.

Q. Wow, that covers a lot of territory for the company…how large is the Business Optimization group? Does everyone in the group have a background in ORMS?

A. The Business Optimization group numbers over 15 and is growing every month. We will build the ORMS capability to whatever it needs to be to make Level 3 successful. Our challenge includes making OR a core competency for the entire company. Members of our group bring broad experiences to Level 3 with the common theme being that most have a background in ORMS disciplines. The only exception to that is some computer system experts that will help develop our infrastructure.

Q. Can you describe some of the past OR/MS projects that you found especially memorable and rewarding? What were some of the challenges you encountered while working on these projects?

A. My first significant OR contribution came in helping to develop new revenue management concepts for the airlines. Specifically – how can we manage aircraft seat inventory more intelligently to maximize the revenue potential of the assets being deployed? This work involved understanding and simulating the passenger booking process, developing new management concepts based on sophisticated quantitative study, evaluating the alternatives, and implementing the new technology.

The biggest challenge was the resistance to change of the organization. This was in part based on the sophistication of the new methods being implemented. The single most important skill required to achieve success on this project turned out to be communications. Working with opponents of change and making them agents of change was how we made the overall effort successful.

Q. You were recently quoted in the February 2000 issue of ORMS Today "The Best of Times" stating, “I spent half my professional career trying to convince senior management that operations research is appropriate and the other half trying to teach them what OR is all about.”
Can you provide some tips for other ORMS professionals who may be facing the same challenges as to how to sell and/or teach ORMS to upper management?

A. Operations Research professionals need to be able to communicate in ways the business can understand. We need to be able to talk the language, understand the critical issues, and propose solutions that address those issues. This is not a discussion about the latest interior point method or queuing approach; this is about putting you and your O.R. organization's skills to use in making the company successful. If you focus on the important questions facing the company and contribute to addressing those questions, you will win O.R. "converts" across the organization that will begin to seek you out as more issues present themselves.

Q. What are the most valuable technical skills that you believe are needed to be successful in the OR/MS industry?

A. Optimization modeling and the requisite skills to implement them and understand the results.

Q. What are some of the most valuable non-technical skills that you believe are needed to be successful in the OR/MS industry?

A. Communications, communications, communications

Q. In what ways do you continue to expand your knowledge of new technologies and techniques in OR/MS?

A. It is tough to stay current. I continue to attend INFORMS conferences and read publications. The best source of new information is really professional networking. Through meeting and talking with people, I can really get key information and insights into the problems I am facing. It also helps to surround yourself with top-notch individuals all bringing diverse skills and talents to the table.

Q. What do you find most rewarding about your career in OR/MS?

A. Playing a very significant and unique role in the growth and success of an organization. Operations research is unique in that the opportunity to do that comes relatively early in your career. It is significant in that the solutions we develop can lead to multimillion dollar cost savings or revenue generation.

In addition, the opportunities to apply operations research in the telecommunications industry are many and varied. I find it rewarding when I can apply many of the ideas and concepts from my past experiences in my current work.

Q. What advice do you have for those just starting out in a career in OR/MS?

A. Invest enough time and energy to work with the business people who are involved in the area you are addressing. The ultimate success of the solution (and therefore your success) is based on being able to meet those needs. Do not stay isolated in your office. The most elegant solution can be a failure if you misunderstand the real business environment. Also, consider spending some amount of time in another role beside OR/MS practitioner. This will help you understand the business environment even better.

Q. What do you predict the future has in store for the field of OR/MS and for OR/MS practitioners?

A. I think that OR/MS will take on more significance in the corporate world. More CEOs will begin to realize the power of these structured ways to approach problems. The companies that employ these skills will begin to realize the competitive advantage of more informed decision-making. The core competency of OR/MS will become embedded into all parts of the organization. OR/MS will become part of the company culture as opposed to an isolated department of "smart" people.

I also believe that the telecommunications transformation that is happening today will be as fundamental as the industrial revolution and computer revolution. And, I feel Level 3 will help to bring about this change.