In field studies based on pre-test market and scanner data, researchers have found evidence of pioneering advantage in the form of an order-of-entry effect: a permanent share advantage that is greatest for the first brand to enter a market and smaller for each subsequently entering brand....

This paper develops a model of conversion behavior (i.e., converting store visits into purchases) that predicts each customer's probability of purchasing based on an observed history of visits and purchases. We offer an individual-level probability model that allows for different forms of...

In many different managerial contexts, consumers "leave money on the table" by, for example, their failure to claim rebates, use available coupons, and so on. This project focuses on a related problem faced by homeowners who may be reluctant to file insurance claims despite the fact their losses...

This paper examines search across competing e-commerce sites. By analyzing panel data from over 10,000 Internet households and three commodity-like products (books, compact discs (CDs), and air travel services), we show that the amount of online search is actually quite limited. On average,...

Multiservice providers, such as telecommunication and financial service companies, can benefit from understanding how customers' service portfolios evolve over the course of their relationships. This can provide guidance for managerial issues such as customer valuation and predicting customers'...

Managerial models for practice have undergone remarkable growth in the past 50 years. My paper on decision calculus, published in 1970, was both a progress report and a prescription for improvement. This commentary describes why I wrote the paper, my perception of why it has been considered...

The first major experimental comparison of approval voting with regular plurality voting occurred in the 1985 annual election of The Institute of Management Sciences (TIMS). In approval voting a person votes for (approves of) as many candidates as desired, the winner being the candidate with the...

(This article originally appeared in Management Science, April 1970, Volume 16, Number 8, pp. B-466--B-485, published by The Institute of Management Sciences.) A manager tries to put together the various resources under his control into an activity that achieves his objectives. A model of his...

The National Science Foundation established the Decision and Management Sciences Program (DMS) in 1982. Healthy and growing, DMS is likely to affect OR/MS significantly, not only by providing funds for basic research, but also through its vision of a combined theoretical and empirical science of...

A manager tries to put together the various resources under his control into an activity that achieves his objectives. A model of his operation can assist him but probably will not unless it meets certain requirements. A model that is to be used by a manager should be simple, robust, easy to...