Technology transfer to low cost locations offers global firms an opportunity to reduce their variable costs involved in serving emerging markets. However, such moves may also make imitation by local competitors easier. As a consequence, technology transfer may create competition in the local...

RFID technology is being widely embraced in the supply chain, by manufacturers, retailers, and logistics firms. Although its advocates include retail giants like Wal-Mart, not everyone is enthusiastic about its benefits. It is not clear whether RFID is a boon or a curse to the supply chain: the...

Despite many success stories, B2B e-commerce penetration remains low. Many firms introduce electronic channels in addition to their traditional sales channels, but find that buyer usage of the e-channel over time does not keep up with initial expectations. Firms must understand the underlying...

It is well known that scheduling jobs according to the Shortest-Remaining-Processing-Time (SRPT) policy is optimal for minimizing mean response time in a single-server system with online arrivals. Unfortunately, SRPT scheduling requires users to reveal their job size (service requirement), which...

Many retailers find it useful to partition customers into multiple classes based on certain characteristics. We consider the case in which customers are primarily distinguished by whether they are willing to wait for backordered demand. A firm that faces demand from customers that are...

We consider a discrete-time inventory system for a perishable product where demand exists for product of different ages; an example of such a product is blood platelets. In addition to the classical costs for inventory holding, outdating, and shortage, our model includes substitution (mismatch)...

Queuing theory studies the behavior of systems subject to different working conditions, which sometimes force clients to wait for service. It has a vast applicability, since it quantifies the dilemma of many companies and institutions between efficacy (provide a good service) and efficiency...