Topic: Operations

Research Brief / COVID-19

The Dollar Store Fix for Vaccination Deserts

Pharmacies aren’t everywhere — adding dollar stores could reduce average distance to vaccination by 62%

Research Brief / Data Analytics

Old Ways of Thinking Cause Managers to Disregard Analytics

Highlighting the right data and making it relevant can help overcome resistance

Surgeon thoroughly washes his hands at a sink Research Brief / Health Care

A Scheduling Tool that Considers Employee Preferences

A model for staffing O.R.s incorporates the costs of worker dissatisfaction and idle time

Workers peer over a coworker's cubicle Research Brief / Competition

How Established Firms Get Disrupted by Allies

Suppliers, distributers, product extenders go from helper to competitor

Cartoon of large watering can watering workers like plants Research Brief / Operations

How Diversified Companies Can Redeploy Workers to Enable Growth

Experienced hands help new business lines find their way

A food bank worker is separating out fresh produce into bags for distribution Research Brief / Supply Chain

Fixing a Food Bank’s Pandemic Logistics Problem

Enormous growth and a redrawn supply chain required a new system

An image of a nurse walking down a hallway in a nursing home Research Brief / Labor

Codifying the Nursing Home Industry’s Elusive, Alarming Turnover Rates

Payroll data allows researchers to finally build an accurate and meaningful measurement

Bright pink background with syringes lined up in diagonal rows Research Brief / Health Care

A Proposal to Even Out Flu Vaccine Supplies

A system of manufacturer rewards and penalties, consumer taxes and subsidies could aid vaccination rates

Two people at a shared open office space sitting on red rubber balls Research Brief / Workplace

Working for a Startup Depresses Long-Term Earnings

The most lucrative career paths avoid young, small firms

Cans of Ayam Brand tuna Research Brief / Retail

A Smaller Middle Class Means Less Variety on Grocery Shelves

Researchers compare income disparity by county to product availability

Workers in a garment factory sewing Research Brief / Supply Chain

How Brands Can Anticipate Unauthorized Subcontracting of Apparel Manufacturing

A model predicts with 80% accuracy which orders get handed off

Nurses washing their hands outdoors while wearing face masks Research Brief / COVID-19

Employees Work at Multiple Nursing Homes and Spread COVID-19

Smartphone GPS tracks staffers between facilities

Tall buildings from the perspective of a person looking up Research Brief / Economics

A Broader Measure of Value Creation at Corporations

A tool in the debate over shareholder primacy and wealth disparities

Empty Times Square in New York in blue (left side); "Quarantine Overkill" sign held by a woman at a rally in red (right) Research Brief / COVID-19

How Clinton and Trump Voters Behave in — and Spread — a Pandemic

Estimates are based on smartphone data and precinct-level 2016 vote results

Illustration of two hot dog carts Research Brief / Pricing

Avoiding Direct Price Competition: Bundling and Unbundling

If one company bundles products, its competitors are always better off not bundling; the thing to avoid is a head-to-head competition wherein the only way to get an edge is by cutting prices

Doctors practicing for surgery Feature / Health Care

Do Surgeons Win or Lose When Medicare Bundles Payments?

A model separates potential profits or losses for hospital, doctors and other health care providers when insurer pays in lump sum