原由 (註 1)
"Hewlett Packard (HP) entered the online consumer sales business with its launch of HPDirect.com, a portal that allows consumers to purchase HP products (e.g., desktop and notebook computers, printers, accessories, supplies) online. This paper describes operations research solutions to a variety of problems in the e-commerce value chain. HP’s objective was to use these solutions to grow its share in the online sales market."
三大步驟，每個大步驟又分為幾個步驟
"First, we identify and quantify the impact of key drivers of online traffic to enhance our market planning and budget allocation process.
Next, we apply Bayesian modeling and Markov chain methods to predict which customers are most likely to buy which product, and when and through which marketing channel they are likely to make a purchase.
Finally, we use a hybrid forecasting approach combining time-series and regression modeling to predict customer orders for optimizing warehouse inventory holding and ensuring timely fulfillment of customer orders."
結果
"Since 2009, the integration of these solutions into HP’s marketing planning and warehouse operations processes has helped to generate an additional $117 million in revenue for HPDirect.com."
此文再一次說明，通常需要多門學科以解決問題，例如文中提及的統計、作業研究、隨機過程的馬可夫鏈 (Markov chain)、資料探勘 (data mining) 等等 (註 2)。
有趣的是前面 7 位作者是位於印度的 Hewlett Packard Global Analytics 員工，只有一位在美國念過碩士。
當然，『惠普（HP）出售個人電腦與印表機事業部門（PPS）的傳聞再起，...， 昨（1）日外電傳出惠普正評估出售未達到業績的部門，外界猜測 PPS 部門被出售的機會最高。』(註 3) 則是受整個產業的影響，和本文無關。
(註 1) Rohit Tandon, Arnab Chakraborty, Girish Srinivasan, Manav Shroff, Ahmar Abdullah, Bharathan Shamasundar, Ritwik Sinha, Suresh Subramanian, Dave Hill, and Prasanna Dhore, Hewlett Packard: Delivering Profitable Growth for HPDirect.com Using Operations Research, Interfaces, January/February 2013, 43:48-61. (www)
(註 2) 全是資管系的必選修，我的管理數學課有教一下馬可夫鏈。
(註 3) 謝艾莉報導，惠普PC部門喊賣 代工廠震撼，經濟日報，2013.01.02
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