URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Spring_2016_Melissa-McCarthy

Yuwen Chen Associate Professor, Marketing and Supply Chain Management Calculating Business Success

written by Emma Clarke ’15

His equations translate economic changes into mathematical language, allowing him to plug business questions into the equations and get answers. “I use mathematical assumptions to create models,” says Chen. “As long as the assumptions are valid, I can derive certain results.” Chen published two papers that discuss multifunction products, such as a printer that also has scanning and faxing capabilities. He found that selling one multifunction product as opposed to multiple separate, single-function products is more profitable for businesses. He proves this intuitive conclusion with math. It may seem as though the process should be simple – write an equation, plug in variables, get answers. However, developing an effective model takes time and can require countless revisions to be valuable. “It has to be intuitive, natural, acceptable, and at the

Many science researchers require large amounts of funding for equipment, assistants and travel to investigate their area of expertise. However, this is not the case with Yuwen Chen, an associate professor of marketing and supply chain management in the University of Rhode Island’s (URI) College of Business Administration, whose research requires little funding. But little money does not mean small impact. Chen helps businesses of all sizes answer some of the toughest questions they may face. “My research uses economic modeling to capture the new technological or economic changes facing businesses, and provides some answers and guidelines to overcome those challenges,” he explains. “When a crisis arises, such as when the Dot Com Bubble burst in the early 2000s, I used math to answer the business leader’s question, ‘What should I do now?’”

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