Monthly Archives: December 2011

Managing retail customer queues to decrease dissatisfaction

Posted on December 8, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Dec 8, 2011) describes retail queues and consumer perceptions of waiting time.  While a single queue is mathematically ideal as an approach to decrease average wait times, consumers perceive any waiting time greater … Continue reading →

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US Battery companies “shocked” by low demands and high costs ?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Dec 5, 2011) describes the plight of US battery companies, funded by over $ 2.4 billion in Federal grants, but struggling to win contracts from automakers. In the case of Ener1, low sales … Continue reading →

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Eliminating USDA oversight of “fresh” meat labels – a good idea ?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article  in the Wall Street Journal (Dec 7, 2011) describes a proposal by the USDA to eliminate their oversight of claims like “fresh”, “low-fat” or “Italian style” for meats.  The claims will thus rest on the credibility of the … Continue reading →

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Toygaroo – the “Netflix of Toys” ?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

Toygaroo (http://www.toygaroo.com) is a Netflix like service for children’s toys. parents sign up for three different levels of service (4, 6 or 8 toys outstanding) and pay a monthly fee. All shipping is through federal Express and is free to … Continue reading →

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Europe’s Horizon 2020 reserach program funding and implications

Posted on December 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (Dec 2, 2011) describes the European research fund, Horizon 2020, set to provide $108 billion in funding from 2014 to 2020. But this funding, aimd at innovations in food, health, transport, clean energy etc, requires … Continue reading →

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Higher taxes for ebooks than books in Europe

Posted on December 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Dec 2, 2011) describes the classification of ebooks as a service in Europe, thus facing sales taxes close to 20% vs a tax close to 5% for paper books.  In addition, books a … Continue reading →

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Orphan drug laws and attractiveness for pharmaceutical companies

Posted on December 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Nov 5, 2011) describes the Orphan Drug Act, a competition free seven year period for manufacturers of drugs to treat diseases affecting less than 200,000 patients.  This exclusive period enables drug prices for dosages to reach … Continue reading →

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Outsourcing labor to comply with India’s labor laws

Posted on December 6, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (Nov 29, 2011) describes the outsourcing of the salespeople by Whirlpool’s India division. The varying labor regulations and enforcement, rules regarding layoffs for companies with mo than 100 employees etc, all combine to … Continue reading →

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The Impact of a Euro collapse on global supply chains

Posted on December 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Dec 3, 2011) ponders the currency impact of different Euro collapse scenarios.  It suggests that Greece dropping out will cause the euro to go from its current $ 1.34 to the dollar to parity with … Continue reading →

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Slow down Postal delivery to save USPS ?

Posted on December 5, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in CNNMoney (http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/05/news/economy/postal_service/index.htm?iid=HP_LN&hpt=hp_t2) describes a proposal by the US Postal service to change the delivery guarantee for first class mail from the current one to three days to a slower two to five days.  The slower delivery will … Continue reading →

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