Tag Archives: Consumers

Amazon requesting some of its sales tax back from California cities

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 31, 2012) describes a request by Amazon, which recently agreed to collect sales taxes for purchases soon, to get back some of the sales tax as an incentive. The company claims that … Continue reading

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Battery manufacturing capacity rampup and short and long term impact

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 31, 2012) describes the US government’s $ 1.26 billion investment in battery capacity, and demands for rapid ramp up and hiring to create 6400 jobs. The slow growth rate implied only 2000 … Continue reading

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The challenges in estimating health system response to waiting time measurement systems

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 25, 2012) titled “Long Medical Waits prove hard to cure” describes different waiting time measurements and the consequent dysfunctional system response. Measuring the waiting time experienced by patients served or focusing on … Continue reading

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Can coordination of health care save 30 % of costs ?

An article in the New York Times (May 23, 2012) describes an effort by UCLA’s Health System to save 30% of costs by coordinating the hospital, patient, doctors and health insurers. These reductions will come from decreasing the number of … Continue reading

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The deceptive global supply chain for Mercury

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (May 28, 2012) describes the demand for mercury in Colombia, to extract small gold deposits, the lethal impact of vapors and errant disposal, and the global supply chain for its supply. Mercury exports were banned by … Continue reading

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Should GMO food be labeled ?

An artcile in the New York Times (May 25, 2012) describes an unlawful effort to put stickers identifying food conatining GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) – now prevalent in most corn or soyabeans grown in the US. Proponents of GMO foods … Continue reading

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From fashion show to web sales in a day

An article in the New York Times (May 23, 2012) titled “Trying to Click Online”  describes sales of Oscar de la Renta fashion items, immediately after the fashion show, in the website TheFancy.com, with five sweaters sold within 24 hours … Continue reading

Posted in Collaboration, Ecommerce, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

The direct to consumer farmers market sales

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (May 21, 2012) describes the move by farmers to sell direct to the consumer in farmers markets – now accounting for 2 % of US farm sales. Since retail prices are often four times the price … Continue reading

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A New Pentagon lab and better gas mileage for cars

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (May 21, 2012) describes a new Pentagon lab in Warren, Michigan to test alternate fuels, improve energy efficiency of parts amd thus improve tank designs. But the same technologies may assist automakers trying to increase their … Continue reading

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Dealing with rising prices of “down”

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 8,2012) describes the impact of rising prices of goose down ($12 per pound in 2009 to $28 now) and duck down ($9 to $19). The driver of these price increases range from … Continue reading

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