One advantage of online retail is that a large number of products can be displayed at low cost. However, online retailers must decide which of these products to carry in inventory (stock items) and which to order from suppliers when a customer places an order (nonstock items). In this paper, we empirically investigate how carrying a product in inventory affects its online sales. We use data from a European furniture and interior design retailer consisting of daily sales transactions and inventory data covering 18 months. We use a quasi-natural experiment—random transitions of products in and out of inventory at the retailer’s central warehouse—to estimate the causal effect of carrying inventory on sales. Our results show a strong and statistically significant increase in sales of, on average, 65% associated with having the product available in stock. More interestingly, this effect differs between products and is moderated by the price of the product: sales of more expensive products are less sensitive to the product being in stock. We use these results to draw insights on which types of items to carry in inventory.

Spoilage reduction in fresh product supply chains is an important challenge and represents great opportunities for cost savings and reduced environmental and social footprints. The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of spoilage and to discuss how these insights can be used to reduce spoilage.We use panel data techniques to quantify the drivers of spoilage in the days-fresh category using daily spoilage and supply chain data (457,539 store-SKU level observations) for fresh fruits and vegetables at Switzerland’s largest retailer. We quantify to what extent inventory, promotions, delivery type, commitment changes, order variations, order cycle, and quality issues influence spoilage. We discuss the mechanisms through which inventory age and product standards impact spoilage of days-fresh products. Our novel findings underline the necessity for specialized supply chain processes, tracking inventory age and damage, and collaboration with supply chain partners in the management of this fundamental product category.

The bullwhip has captured headlines during the pandemic, but the problem has been wreaking havoc on supply chains for decades. Traditional strategies to crack the bullwhip have largely failed. Now, a new approach to fix incentives, improve transparency and communications between companies has emerged.

Process industries operate in commodity markets with low product variety, little product differentiation, and highly capital-intensive manufacturing. Because prices are volatile and demand is uncertain, manufacturing capabilities become the main strategic competitive lever. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the interplay between market conditions, capital expenditure, manufacturing flexibility, and production capacity to effectively analyze the consequences of manufacturing investments in both the short and the long terms. In order to achieve this, we developed an econometric model linking market conditions and operational decisions. We tested the model on a sample of 480 firms from the mining sector and 1053 firms from the oil and gas sector. The results show that firms in process industries follow the market with their investments, which impacts their operations in the short term as well as their capacity growth in the long term. Additionally, from our findings, we propose a firm value driver model that managers could consider when deciding on capital expenditures. Finally, our results indicate that the managers of financially healthy companies should resist the stock market's short-term pressure to reduce fixed costs and instead play the long game.

2020 är ett speciellt år på många sätt. En konsekvens av den pågående pandemin är en lavinartad tillväxt i e-handeln. Enligt PostNords ehandelsbarometer ökade e-handeln med 49 % i Sverige under det andra kvartalet 2020, jämfört med Q2 2019. Det mesta tyder på att utvecklingen kommer att fortsätta åt samma håll vilket innebär en utmaning för detaljhandeln.  

Study objectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate how the terrorist attack in Stockholm, Sweden affected patient inflow to the general emergency departments (EDs) in close proximity of the attack. The study analyzed if, and to what extent, the attack impacted ED inflow during the following days and weeks.MethodsIn a retrospective observational study, anonymized aggregated data on ED arrivals (inflow of patients) to all seven of the EDs in the Stockholm County was analyzed using the Difference-in-Differences (DiD) estimator. The control groups were the affected hospitals in the years prior to the terrorist attack. The number of ED visits was retrieved from the Stockholm County Council administrative database.ResultsThe study shows a statistically significant reduction in overall ED inflow of 7-9% following the attack. The effect was strongest initially after the attack, and ED inflow regained normal levels within approximately three weeks' time, without any significant rebound effect. The effect on ED inflow also decreased with distance from ground zero, and was not significant further away than 10km.ConclusionThe results showed that ED inflow was significantly decreased in the weeks immediately following the Stockholm terrorist attack. The reasons for this cannot be fully explained in this observational study. However, the results suggest that some patients actively choose when, where and if they should go to the ED.

Contrary to the long-standing view in the finance literature that firms should maximise payment delays, research in operations management suggests that long payment delays can be suboptimal. In this study, we reconcile these two views by applying a secondary data approach to established operations management theory. Based on a sample of 3383 groups of public US firms from a novel database, we find that our data are consistent with the causal relations and theoretical predictions of the operations management literature. Firm profitability is positively associated with payment delay. Payment delay, in turn, is positively associated with the capital cost difference between buyer and supplier and negatively associated with the price elasticity of demand and the deterioration rate of inventory. However, we do not observe any significant interaction effects between these factors, which raise a number of questions for future research.

Process industries such as steelmaking and chemicals are increasingly focused on customer service, but their supply chain practices are designed for low-cost, efficient operations. To align with today's corporate strategies, they need to match their supply chains to the markets they serve while improving their demand forecasting capabilities.