Over the past decade, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has sponsored a series of industry studies, the aim of which is to understand how technology and human resources practices blend together to create high-performance workplaces and competitive industries. This report summarizes the first year...

Call center operations in retail banking are undergoing a transition from being service-oriented centers to becoming sales-driven organizations. This paper explores the tradeoffs between service and sales in phone center operations and develops an analytical approach to quantify the costs and...

This paper presents a methodology which determines the role of design in calculating the efficiency of service delivery processes. The efficiency of these processes is determined by using a variation of frontier estimation (DEA-like) techniques. The methodology is then applied to a particular...

This paper presents a methodology that determines the role of design in calculating the efficiency of service delivery processes. The efficiency of these processes is determined by using a variation of frontier estimation (DEA-like) techniques. The methodology is then applied to a particular...

Choi, DeSarbo and Harker (1990) have recently proposed a numerical methodology for optimal product positioning and pricing under the assumption that the incumbents react only with price changes in the short run. The current note extends this methodology to include incumbents' long-run strategy...

This paper presents a consumer-based methodology for new product pricing and positioning in the face of price competition. The price competition is modelled as a Nash equilibrium for which two complementary approaches are employed: an analytical approach of duopoly provides qualitative insights...

This paper presents a model for the study of operations at an inbound call center. The call center is modeled as a multi-class processor shared loss system, where the interacting effects of human, telecommunication and information technology resources are explicitly incorporated. Product form...