Author Archives: aviyer2010

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About aviyer2010

Dean and H. William Lichtenberger Chair in Management at the School of Management, University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

Do surging ecommerce orders portend lower ontime Christmas deliveries by UPS and FedEx

An article in the Wall Street Journal (December 13, 2016) titled “UPS, FedEx Struggle to Keep Up with Surge in Holiday Orders” describes the increase in ecommerce orders from 18% last year to 25% this year and a reduction in … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, competitiveness, consumer, Cost, delivery, Ecommerce, Supply Chain Issues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Hatchimals – the 2016 toy in demand

An article in the Wall Street Journal (December 13, 2016) titled “Hatch me if you can:Hunt for Hatchimals Goes Global” describes the 2016 hit toy wonder, the Hatchimal, a toy that hatches from an egg and is a walking toy … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer, Cost, disruption, product, Supply Chain Issues, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The supply chain impact of India’s cash crunch

An article in the New York Times (December 13, 2016) titled “India Hobbles a Cash Crisis, and Electronic Payments Boom”, describes the shortage of the new currency bills in India following its demonetization of 500 and 1000 rupee notes (which … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer, Cost, disruption, retailers, Service Operations, technology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon’s cashierless grocery store plans

An article in Business Insider (December 6,2016) titled “Amazon’s new grocery store highlights a huge hole in Donald Trump’s promise on jobs” describes plans by Amazon to open thousands of stores where customers can check into the store with their … Continue reading →

Posted in competitiveness, consumer, Cost, disruption, logistics, Operations Management, retailers, Service Operations, technology | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Amazon uses trucks to move data to the cloud faster

An article in the Wall Street Journal (November 30, 2016) titled “Amazon Uses Trucks to Drive Data Faster” describes use of a 45 foot shipping container with 100 petabytes of data to move data from a company to the cloud … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, logistics, truck | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Lock 52 bottleneck and potential impact

An article in the New York Times (November 23, 2016) titled “Choke Point of a Nation:The High Cost of an Aging River Lock” describes the 80 million tons of grain, coal, fuel and other products worth $22 billion in trade … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, consumer, Cost, delivery, disruption, logistics | Tagged , , | 24 Comments

The Danish “hygge” fashion trend in Britain

An article in the Guardian (November 22, 2016) titled “The hygge conspiracy” describes the marketing of the Danish concept of “hygge”, which implies cosiness, as a fashion trend. Cashmere cardigans, sewing patterns, wallpaper etc are all linked to this concept … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer, Global Contexts, labeling, product, Service Operations | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Including weather forecasts to improve fashion product profitability

An article in the Wall Street Journal (November 27,2016) titled “The Next Fashion Trend:Weather Forecasting” describes the impact of weather on fashion sales and thus the need for the fashion industry to learn about weather forecasting. It claims that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, consumer, Cost, logistics, Made in USA, mgmt5612018, Supply Chain Issues, technology | Tagged , , , , , , | 141 Comments

Voting lines in New York City, machine failures, repair personnel and backup

An article in the New York Times (November 8, 2016) describes the long lines to vote in New York City. The article describes 50 repair personnel allocated to repair machines in 1200 stations, but also stuck in traffic as they … Continue reading →

Posted in Capacity, Operations Management, technology | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Amazon.com’s 43% increase in shipping costs

An article in the Wall Street Journal (October 28 2016) titled “Amazon’s Shipping Costs Likely to Surge With Holiday Orders” describes a 43% increase in shipping costs in the third quarter of this year as reported by Amazon.com. The article … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, competitiveness, consumer, Cost, Ecommerce, logistics, ordering, truck | Tagged | Leave a comment