Reza Ahmadi

Biography

Reza Ahmadi is a professor of decisions, operations and technology management. His research focuses on a range of topics, including product design and development and supply chain management. His research on pricing and contracting issues in the presence of gray markets was one of the earliest in this area of operations management.

“My research explores the effect of contract design on gray markets and how services can be used as a strategy to address the challenges in these markets. I seek to find solutions to the practical problems faced by industry,” he says.

Ahmadi is widely regarded for his research examining the practice of discounting prices in a B2B setting and is credited for developing a price-bargaining model that enhances pricing decisions in this arena.

In 2015, he received a faculty grant to support his research on fixed price and bargaining. Ahmadi will examine why different price mechanisms are used in B2B settings. His findings will provide insights into when to allow for fewer price negotiations during the product lifecycle, and how this decision affects seller and supply chain profits.

Ahmadi has published more than 35 academic papers in top journals, including Operations Research, Management Science and Productions and Operations Management. He serves on the editorial board of Production, Operations and Management Society as well as the special editorial board of Interfaces.

Over the last 27 years at Anderson, Ahmadi estimates he has taught over 4,000 graduate students. Through the years, he has taught core, elective and Ph.D. courses to students across all MBA programs, including the Global Executive MBA for Asia Pacific and the recently established Fully-Employed MBA Flex option.

As a faculty advisor for the Easton Technology Management Center, he helps create programming that exposes students to the rapidly transforming technology landscape across different verticals. Ahmadi has worked with business schools around the world to organize short educational programs focused on technology management, the information economy, entrepreneurship and globalization. He has taught students from management programs at Korea University Business School, Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, and Italy’s SDA Bocconi School of Management.

At UCLA, Ahmadi serves on the Council on Planning and Budget, where he assists in the development of strategic recommendations for the allocation of academic resources through the university’s budgetary and planning processes.

Mastery in industrial engineering landed Ahmadi consulting opportunities with various corporations such as IBM, AMD, GM, Rocketdyne, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios and Disneyland. At Rocketdyne, he was tasked with redesigning their space shuttle’s main engine to commercialize the turbo pump of their rockets so they could be produced two times faster and two times cheaper.

Theme park goers have Ahmadi to thank for helping to develop the Fast Pass concept, which manages the constant flow of customers through theme park attractions.

Outside of the classroom, Ahmadi enjoys playing guitar and has a love for sushi, running and classic rock music. He can often be found outdoors maintaining a lush garden filled with fruit trees, vegetables and roses.

Education

Ph.D. Operations Management (with honors), 1988, University of Texas at Austin

M.S. Operations Research (with honors), 1984, University of Texas at Austin

B.S. Industrial Engineering (with honors), 1978, New Mexico State University