The Future of Retail Operations

Retailing consists of all the activities associated with the selling of goods to the final consumer. In this article, we review the research on retail operations published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Research (M&SOM) since 1999. We then discuss the current retail landscape and the new research directions it offers, in which M&SOM can play a prominent role

Integrating anticipative replenishment-allocation with reactive fulfillment for online retailing using robust optimization

Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier 1; Lee Kong Chian Fellowship; MPA Research Fellowshi

SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION IN THE FOOD AND CONSUMER GOODS INDUSTRIES

The interorganizational structures necessary to implement and achieve the logistical performance improvements identified in the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) initiative and related supply chain management concepts are difficult to develop. Firms continue to struggle to implement integrated programs and techniques, particularly with respect to changing operating structures, relationships, and mindsets to facilitate true supply chain integration. This research explores the logistical strategies and structures used by selected food and consumer goods firms to integrate their supply chains. It illustrates effective integration strategies and identifies critical success factors and barriers to successful ECR implementation. A framework is used to guide managers in developing the competencies essential to integrating the supply chain and to establishing the relationships necessary to operate in an ECR environment. The framework, entitled Supply Chain 2000, depicts supply chain value creation as achieving synchronization and coordination across four critical supply chain flows: product/service; market accommodation; information; and cash.Industrial Organization,

Perspectives on Human Nature and Their Implications for Business Organizations

Employing psychological principles to reform the structure and agendas of business organizations increases employee fulfillment. This Essay proposes changes in corporate structure in order to nurture employee\u27s mental health in a way that also benefits companies by resulting in greater employee productivity. This Essay argues that the decentralization of business organizations and greater employee involvement in decision-making will improve both quality of life and the environment

A Real-Time Picking and Sorting System in E-Commerce Distribution Centers

Order fulfillment is the most expensive and critical operation for companies engaged in e-commerce. E-commerce distribution centers must rapidly organize the picking and sorting processes during and after the transaction has taken place, with the ongoing need to create greater responsiveness to customers. Sorting brings a relatively large setup time, which cannot be well admitted by existing polling models. We build a new stochastic polling model to describe and analyze such systems, and provide approximate explicit expressions for the complete distribution of order line waiting time for polling-based order picking systems and test their accuracy. These expressions lend themselves for operations and design operations, including deciding between “pick-and-sort” or “sort-while-pick” processes, and warehouse performance evaluation

CURBSIDE RECYCLING: WASTE RESOURCE OR WASTE OF RESOURCES?

Replaced with revised version of paper 07/28/04.Environmental Economics and Policy, Public Economics,

The dynamics of group development and team decision making

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (52-53).by Thomas P. Roloff.M.S

An Analysis of Major Issues for Culturally-Minded Professionals in Women\u27s Health Care

Women\u27s health care professionals, such as general physicians, obstetricians and gynecologists, midwives, nurses, and doulas, in the US need to be aware of cultural issues and disparities. Minorities and migrant women experience cultural challenges and disparities when receiving health care in the US. Without cultural sensitivity, patient care is compromised. Pregnancy and childbirth practices vary widely by culture, and potential differences in perspectives, beliefs, and treatment of these are critical issues for women’s health care professionals to study. Female genital cutting (FGC), obstetric fistulas (OF), and female cancer are also discussed in this paper