Category Archives: Service Operations

An alternate plan to rescue the US Postal Service

Posted on April 26, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (April 17,2012) provides an alternative to the current plan to shut post offices and decase delivery days. The Pistal workers union suggests increasing stamp prices, providing delivery services for pharmaceutical delivery etc as … Continue reading →

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Toys “R” Us retailing challenges – competitor impact

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 7,2012) describes competitors to Toys”R” Us, and the resulting sales challenges. Target and Wal-Mart have slashed toy prices, with Wal-Mart allowing layaway. Amazon.com continues to be aggressive in the toys category while … Continue reading →

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Service constraints abroad and market access impact

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 10,2012) describes restrictions on flight paths for UPS in China, and the consequent service disruption due to bad weather. The lack of route flexibility thus impacts service guarantees offered by UPS. Given … Continue reading →

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The potential impact of capping patient co-pay on drug prices

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 12,2012) describes efforts to cap the patient co-pay amounts to shield them from he high cost of specialty drugs – that account for 1% of the units sold but 17 % of … Continue reading →

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Did Apple’s agency model for ebooks enable collusion ?

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 12, 2012) describes a Justice department lawsuit accusing Apple and five publishers of e-books price fixing. Given declining e-book prices, five large publishers agreed to an “agency model” of pricing whereby Apple … Continue reading →

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The supply chain for songs

Posted on April 8, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New Yorker (March 26, 2012) describes the role of producers (who generate chord progressions, beats and computerized synths), “top-line” writers (who generate melodies, lyrics and hooks to attract listeners) – who then market to performers to … Continue reading →

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Renewable energy server farms in Iceland

Posted on April 7, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (April 2,2012) describes a server farm on solid bedrock, close to the airport, in the midpoint of the Atlantic, fueled by renewable geothermal energy and cooled by fans that blow in cool air from the outside. … Continue reading →

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Is fiber optic cable capacity too much ?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (April 3, 2012) suggests that fiber optic capacity expansion is too optimistic, pointing to 3% utilization of cable in big cities and new laser technology that expanded capacity in the past. But capacity … Continue reading →

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Social Networking at P&G to drive sales growth

Posted on April 3, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (April 3, 2012) describes Proctor & Gamble’s foray into social networking and its demand impact. A Facebook campiagn for Pepto-Bismol focused on “Celebrate Life” – targeting users of the product on Saturday and Sunday mornings – … Continue reading →

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Wal-Mart’s ecommerce approach to combat Amazon.com

Posted on April 3, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (April 2, 2012) cites WalMart’s 8 % growth in 2011 vs Amazon.com’s 41 % growth as reason for WalMart to innovate in the ecommerce space. The result (a) Endless Aisle – which permits customers to order … Continue reading →

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