Publications

Research Summary

Managing the Operating Role of Customers

By: Frances X. Frei

Customers in operating roles introduce considerable variability into the production environment including differences in the demands they impose on the environment and the unpredictability of those demands. When customers are the source of production variability, the... View Details

September 1987 (Revised November 1992)
Background Note

Note on Operating Exposure to Exchange-Rate Changes

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Describes the effects on operating cash flows of a real change in exchange rates. Describes different elements of operating exposure and includes illustrative examples. View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Fluctuation

Educators

July 2002
Article

The Effect of Decreasing Length of Stay on Discharge Destination and Readmission after Coronary Bypass Operation

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, John Newell and David F. Torchiana

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

June 2017
Article

Is Operating Flexibility Harmful under Debt?

By: Nikolaos Trichakis, Dan A. Iancu and Gerry Tsoukalas

We study the inefficiencies stemming from a firm's operating flexibility under debt. We find that flexibility in replenishing or liquidating inventory, by providing risk-shifting incentives, could lead to borrowing costs that erase more than a third of the firm's... View Details

Keywords: Covenants; Risk-shifting; Inventory; Agency Costs; Debt Financing; Risk Management; Borrowing and Debt

01 Jul 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Creating Reciprocal Value Through Operational Transparency

Keywords: by Ryan W. Buell, Tami Kim & Chia-Jung Tsay

07 Oct 2014
News

Network Effect

after, because more genes with which to work would mean more avenues to explore in new drug development, exponentially increasing the chances of finding effective treatment and prevention. In 2004, the three families founded the Cure... View Details

Keywords: Linda Kush

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Building Competitive Advantage Through Operations

the effectives of their own operations when they return. Furthermore, we want them to understand what the future holds for operations, in particular in terms of the new technologies.. EE: Are there... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

10 Jan 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Operations Management

and involves all levels of the organization. How Can Operations Become A Competitive Advantage? Operations and the Competitive Edge Many managers expect operations... View Details

September 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying?

By: Ryan W. Buell, Willy Shih and Mike Toffel

This case looks at United Airlines when it is facing a decision on whether to shift its aircraft routing to more "out-and-back" routing in order to try to improve its on-time performance. As one of the world's largest airlines, United had a very large fleet and... View Details

Educators

Web

Digital Operations - Course Catalog

physical operations, the different constraints and bottlenecks each present, and how to combine bits and atoms effectively for scaling. Understand how digital integration leads to the unbundling and rebundling of View Details

2008
Book

Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton

In a world of stiffening competition, business strategy is more crucial than ever. Yet most organizations struggle in this area--not with formulating strategy but with executing it, or putting their strategy into action. Owing to execution failures, companies realize... View Details

Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Operations; Performance; Strategic Planning; Business Strategy

August 1992
Case

Otis Pacific Asia Operations (A): National Challenges

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Describes the elevator market and Otis's competitive position in four markets: Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, and Japan. The student is asked to evaluate the strategic and competitive challenges in each market, especially in light of strong Japanese competition across the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Network Effects; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Service Delivery; Competitive Advantage; Competition; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; India; Japan; Malaysia; Hong Kong

Educators

January 2021
Article

The Effects of Menu Costs on Retail Performance: Evidence from Adoption of the Electronic Shelf Label Technology

By: Ioannis Stamatopoulos, Achal Bassamboo and Antonio Moreno

We use the adoption of electronic shelf labels (ESLs) by an international grocery retailer in 2015 to identify the effects of physical menu costs (i.e., labor and material costs of price adjustment) on retail performance. We find that the installation of ESLs increased... View Details

Keywords: Retail Operations; Dynamic Pricing; Revenue Management; Operations; Price; Revenue; Management; Retail Industry

September 2011
Article

The Labor Illusion: How Operational Transparency Increases Perceived Value

By: Ryan W. Buell and Michael I. Norton

A ubiquitous feature of even the fastest self-service technology transactions is the wait. Conventional wisdom and operations theory suggests that the longer people wait, the less satisfied they become; we demonstrate that due to what we term the labor illusion, when... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Perception; Valuation; Service Delivery; Consumer Behavior; Performance Effectiveness; Customer Satisfaction; Service Industry

23 Aug 2006
Op-Ed

The Real Wal-Mart Effect

benefits from the company's low prices. Wal-Mart operates 2-1/2 times as much selling space per inhabitant in the poorest one-third of states as in the richest one-third. And within these states, it focuses on poorer districts and... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat & Ken A. Mark; Retail

01 Sep 2011
News

The Spangler Effect

operational fund.) Not someone who seeks public attention for his family’s philanthropic generosity, Spangler remembers his surprise at learning that the building would bear his name. “I didn’t quite know what to say,” he recounts. “I... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

13 May 2014
Op-Ed

The Alibaba Effect

state-owned enterprise. Its unique combination of timing, wits, external capital, and alliances make it the kind of home-grown success story Apple and Amazon have been in the US. Operating away from the politically sensitive domains of... View Details

Keywords: by Bill Kirby & Warren McFarlan; Retail

Offline Showrooms in Omni-channel Retail: Demand and Operational Benefits

Omnichannel environments where customers shop online and offline at the same retailer are ubiquitous, and are deployed by online-first and traditional retailers alike. We focus on the relatively understudied domain of online-first retailers and the engagement of... View Details

2024
Working Paper

The Operational Impact of Customer Location in On-Demand Services

By: Natalie Epstein, Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno

The rapid growth of on-demand delivery services, particularly in the food and grocery sectors, has driven the expansion of hyperlocal fulfillment centers (FCs). This paper uses data from an on-demand grocery delivery platform in Latin America to assess how customer... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Logistics; Geographic Location; Service Delivery; Quality; Retail Industry; Latin America