This paper introduces a new generalized version of the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) in which nodes belong to various color classes and each color class must be visited as an entity. We distinguish the cases of the problem for which the colors are either pre-assigned or can be selected from a...

Gray markets, also known as parallel imports, are marketplaces for trading genuine products that are diverted from authorized distribution channels. They have created fierce competition for manufacturers in many industries and each year billions of dollars worth of products are traded in these...

Diverting large quantities of goods from authorized distribution channels to unauthorized or “gray market” channels, albeit legal, significantly affects both firms and consumers due to effects on price, revenue, service and warranty availability, and product availability. In this paper we...

We study price negotiations in high-technology supply chains where a manufacturer is sourcing a new-technology-based component from a supplier who has limited production capacity. The firms are rational and information is symmetric. It is unknown whether demand for this component will exceed...

This paper analizes a new variant of the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) in which nodes belong to various color classes and each color class must be visited as an entity. We show that the problem is APX-hard and provide exact solutions for special cases and a two-phase heuristic for the general...

Every year, companies that produce consumer tax preparation software struggle with a massive amount of work imposed by thousands of state and federal changes to tax laws and forms. With their release not even beginning before August, these changes still must be processed and incorporated into...

We consider the distribution planning problem in the motion picture industry. This problem involves forecasting theater-level box office revenues for a given movie and using these forecasts to choose the best locations to screen a movie. We first develop a method that predicts theater-level box...

In this paper, we propose a hierarchical framework for organizing and staffing a product development process at a leading software company that produces tax software. Every year, starting in August, the firm struggles with a high workload imposed by thousands of changes in tax rules announced by...