Operations
Looking to Further Digitize Your Operations? This Tool Can Help.
There’s no single solution or easy answer. But you can use this framework to audit your efforts and figure out your next move.
Operations
How the Pandemic Will (and Won’t) Change Companies’ Operations
From stocking grocery store shelves to pricing plane tickets, here’s what to expect.
Operations
One Healthcare System’s Race to Distribute the COVID-19 Vaccine
A chief medical officer and a supply-chain expert discuss the nuances of the rollout.
Operations
2 Ways to Improve Rideshares for Drivers and Customers
Research suggests there are ways to reduce costs and emissions, as well as help customers get picked up more quickly.
Operations
Are “Menu Costs” Messing Up Your Supply Chain?
When it’s cheaper to change product prices, companies benefit—and so do their suppliers, new research shows.
Organizations
One Way to Create Better Workplace Incentives and Protocols: Codesign Them with Your Employees
New practices are more likely to be embraced if they aren’t dictated from the top.
Suggested For You
Add Insight
to your inbox.
We’ll send you one email a week with content you actually want to read, curated by the Insight team.
Operations
Having a Far-Flung Supply Chain May Lead to More Product Defects
When firms have to collaborate over long distances, the final product suffers.
Operations
The Coronavirus Has Upended Supply Chains. Here’s How Companies Can Prepare for the Next Disruption.
There are strategies that both large and small companies can implement to make their manufacturing more agile.
Podcast Operations
Podcast: The (Surprisingly Muddy) Case for Transparency
Economists prize sharing information. On this episode of The Insightful Leader, we ask if that’s always the right move.
Healthcare
Do Doctors Who Supervise Residents Spend Less Time with Patients?
Data from two ERs suggest that patients at teaching hospitals aren’t losing out on face time with senior physicians.
Operations
How a Change to Food Inspectors’ Schedules Can Make Our Food Safer
Yes, they try to be objective. But seemingly small quirks in their schedules can affect their judgement.
Operations
A Simple Way to Make Your Customers More Satisfied with Their Deliveries
Hint: It comes down to when you send status updates.
Strategy
Take 5: How to Increase Your Office's Productivity
Research-backed tips for improving workflows and discouraging slacking.
Operations
Why First Come, First Served Isn’t Always the Best Approach to Customer Service
Is it time to give impatient people their own line?
Operations
Podcast: How Do Those Valentine’s Day Roses End Up in Your Bouquet? It’s Complicated.
Millions of blooms. Two continents. One day. And a very busy airport.
Operations
What’s the Best Way to Learn a New Skill—by Doing or by Viewing?
An analysis of eBay coders shows that studying a colleague’s work can pay off. Just be careful whose shoulder you’re looking over.
Operations
There’s a Better Way to Manage Your Inventory
Using data from a drug-store chain, a new model finds opportunities to prevent shortages and boost profits.
Operations
What’s the Best Way to Learn a New Skill—by Doing or by Viewing?
An analysis of eBay coders shows that studying a colleague’s work can pay off. Just be careful whose shoulder you’re looking over.
Operations
There’s a Better Way to Manage Your Inventory
Using data from a drug-store chain, a new model finds opportunities to prevent shortages and boost profits.
Operations
Attention Passengers: Your Next Flight Will Likely Arrive Early. Here’s Why.
The reason has less to do with planes and airport logistics than a strategic move by airlines.
Operations
A Counterintuitive Way to Keep Shelves Stocked and Prices Down
New research suggests how to improve supply-chain efficiency and avoid “inventory runs.”
Operations
Here’s a Better Way to Schedule Surgeries
A new tool could drive savings of 20 percent while still keeping surgeons happy.
Operations
How “Speed Factories” Help Companies Adapt to Capricious Consumers
For certain trendy products, these local but expensive plants can be a smart investment.
Operations
Want to Improve Your Sales Forecast? Check Your Company’s Facebook Feed.
Social media data can help predict consumer demand.
Data Analytics
To Get the Most from Data Analytics, Reward Intellectual Curiosity Across Your Company
Don’t relegate big data to sales and marketing. Let it permeate the culture.
Operations
How Much Does It Cost to Manufacture Overseas Versus at Home?
A new tool helps companies calculate whether to offshore, manufacture locally, or dual source.
Operations
What Makes an Online Flash Sale Successful?
When ratings and reviews aren’t enough, showing that a deal is popular can convince others to buy.
Operations
How to Predict Demand for Your New Product
Relying on manager expertise and market research may not be enough.
Policy
What Volkswagen’s Emissions Scandal Can Teach Us about Why Companies Cheat
Tighter standards may backfire in industries with fierce competition.
Operations
From Long Checkout Lines to Departure Gate Chaos, Can Companies Reduce Holiday Hassles?
An operations professor explores better ways to form queues, ride escalators, and deliver packages.
Operations
Is There a Better Way to Allocate Organs to Transplant Patients?
Two ideas for changing a system where people linger on waitlists while kidneys spoil.
Operations
How Offering a Ship-to-Store Option Comes at a Cost
It delights customers, but managing inventory becomes more complicated.
Operations
Can Going Big on Eco-friendly Practices Really Pay Off?
The case for doing even more than swapping out lightbulbs.
Data AnalyticsStrategy
How Open Data Is Changing Chicago
A Q&A with Chicago’s chief data officer about the power of big data.
Strategy
Video: To Build Trust with Customers, Show That You Are in It for the Long Haul
A researcher and a trusted CEO share tips to boost loyalty.
Economics
Podcast: What Happens When Employees Are Poached?
How poaching benefits companies and industries, and how you can make yourself more poachable.
Operations
Going Green Can Be Good for the Bottom Line
Sustainable operations and greater growth can go hand in hand.