When firms evaluate their service system design choices, there is typically more uncertainty surrounding the value that a particular auxiliary service provides than there is on the cost of providing that service. To help inform this decision, we propose an approach where we compare the relative...

As firms come to realize that a traditional one-size-fits-all policy may no longer be effective, they look for more innovative practices such as personalized offerings and even personalized pricing to differentiate their products and services. In such an environment, it becomes critical to...

Many companies are reluctant to enter the remanufacturing market because of concern with cannibalization of new sales, competition from current remanufacturers, and the willingness of consumers to purchase remanufactured products. What is often missing, however, is an in-depth understanding of...

An important challenge faced by hotels is how to set their premium room price differential over their standard rooms and how to manage the upsell process. Standby upgrades, where the customer is only charged if the upgrade is available at the time of arrival, is one technique that has become...

We study the disposition decision for product returns in a closed-loop supply chain. Motivated by the asset recovery process at IBM, we consider two disposition alternatives. Returns may be either refurbished for reselling or dismantled for spare parts. Reselling a refurbished unit typically...

Using a major hotel chain's 16-month booking data, we empirically investigate the existence and extent of strategic customers in the context of standby upgrades, a popular program offering availability-based, discounted premium-room upgrades. Customers, in particular loyalty members, may become...