-
作者：King, Gregory J.; Chao, Xiuli; Duenyas, Izak
作者单位：Gap Inc.; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan
摘要：In consulting, finance, and other service industries, customers represent a revenue stream, and must be acquired and retained over time. In this paper, we study the resource allocation problem of a profit maximizing service firm that dynamically allocates its resources toward acquiring new clients and retaining unsatisfied existing ones. The interaction between acquisition and retention in our model is reflected in the cash constraint on total expected spending on acquisition and retention in ...
-
作者：Chen, Liwen; Gilbert, Stephen M.; Xia, Yusen
作者单位：City University of Hong Kong; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin; University System of Georgia; Georgia State University
摘要：In many industries, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must obtain critical components from a few powerful suppliers. To the extent that the OEMs are also concentrated, the interactions between the suppliers of critical components and the OEMs are strategic, and have implications for how an incumbent OEM chooses its product line and interacts with potential rivals. We demonstrate that, by adding a low-end product line extension, an OEM can induce a strategic supplier to offer more favorab...
-
作者：Chen, Hongyu; Zheng, Zhiqiang (Eric); Ceran, Yasin
作者单位：California State University System; California State University Long Beach; University of Texas System; University of Texas Dallas; Santa Clara University
摘要：User-generated contents (UGC) in social media such as online reviews are inherently incomplete since we do not capture the opinions of users who do not write a review. These silent users may be systematically different than those who speak up. Such differences can be driven by users' differing sentiments toward their shopping experiences as well as their disposition to generate UGC. Overlooking silent users' opinions can result in a reporting bias. We develop a method to model users' UGC gener...
-
作者：Xia, Hao; Dawande, Milind; Mookerjee, Vijay
作者单位：Harbin Institute of Technology; University of Texas System; University of Texas Dallas
摘要：The construction of a software system requires not only individual coding effort from team members to realize the various functionalities, but also adequate team coordination to integrate the developed code into a consistent, efficient, and bug-free system. On the one hand, continuous coding without adequate coordination can cause serious system inconsistencies and faults that may subsequently require significant corrective effort. On the other hand, frequent integrations can be disruptive to ...
-
作者：Bolandifar, Ehsan; Kouvelis, Panos; Zhang, Fuqiang
作者单位：Chinese University of Hong Kong; Washington University (WUSTL)
摘要：This paper studies the optimal component procurement strategies of two competing OEMs selling substitutable products. The OEMs outsource their production to a common contract manufacturer, who in turn needs an input from a component supplier. Each OEM may either directly procure the input from the component supplier, or delegate the procurement task to the contract manufacturer. We first analyze the OEMs' procurement game under a non-strategic supplier whose component price is exogenously give...
-
作者：Katehakis, Michael N.; Melamed, Benjamin; Shi, Jim (Junmin)
作者单位：Rutgers University System; Rutgers University Newark; Rutgers University New Brunswick; Rutgers University System; Rutgers University New Brunswick; Rutgers University Newark; New Jersey Institute of Technology
摘要：Small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including many startup firms, need to manage interrelated flows of cash and inventories of goods. In this study, we model a firm that can finance its inventory (ordered or manufactured) with loans in order to meet random demand which in general may not be time stationary. The firm earns interest on its cash on hand and pays interest on its debt. The objective is to maximize the expected value of the firm's capital at the end of a finite planning horizo...
-
作者：Ding, Qing; Kouvelis, Panos; Milner, Joseph
作者单位：Huazhong University of Science & Technology; Washington University (WUSTL); University of Toronto
摘要：We consider how a firm should ration inventory to multiple classes in a stochastic demand environment with partial, class-dependent backlogging where the firm incurs a fixed setup cost when ordering from its supplier. We present an infinite-horizon, average cost criterion Markov decision problem formulation for the case with zero lead times. We provide an algorithm that determines the optimal rationing policy, and show how to find the optimal base-stock reorder policy. Numerical studies indica...
-
作者：Qi, Lian; Chu, Leon Yang; Chen, Rachel R.
作者单位：Rutgers University System; Rutgers University Newark; Rutgers University New Brunswick; University of Southern California; University of California System; University of California Davis
摘要：This study examines a firm's quality and price decisions when consumers differ not only in their willingness-to-pay for quality but also in their reservation utility for the basic product. We find that while the firm offers lower-quality products when consumers' valuations for quality deteriorate, the optimal quality may increase with a negative shift in consumers' reservation utilities. We also investigate the optimal price and quality of the products within a vertically differentiated produc...
-
作者：Vanajakumari, Manoj; Kumar, Subodha; Gupta, Sushil
作者单位：Texas A&M University System; Texas A&M University College Station; Texas A&M University System; Texas A&M University College Station; Mays Business School; State University System of Florida; Florida International University
摘要：In the aftermath of a disaster, the relief items are transported from temporary warehouses (Staging Areas, SAs) to the Points of Distribution (PODs). Reducing the response time to provide relief items to disaster victims and cost minimization are two important objectives of this study. We propose an integrated optimization model for simultaneously determining (1) locations of staging areas, (2) inventory assignments to these SAs, (3) selecting sizes and numbers of trucks, and (4) routing of tr...
-
作者：Yao, David D.; Zhou, Sean X.; Zhuang, Weifen
作者单位：Columbia University; Chinese University of Hong Kong; Xiamen University
摘要：A common problem faced by many firms in their supply chains can be abstracted as follows. Periodically, or at the beginning of some selling season, the firm needs to distribute finished goods to a set of stocking locations, which, in turn, supply customer demands. Over the selling season, if and when there is a supply-demand mismatch somewhere, a re-distribution or transshipment will be needed. Hence, there are two decisions involved: the one-time stocking decision at the beginning of the seas...
