In this paper, we consider scheduling of a multi-item single stage production-inventory system in the presence of uncertainty regarding demand patterns, production times and switchover times.

Commodity product marketers are increasingly resorting to branding in response to growing competition. Despite this commodity branding issues have not been adequately addressed. In this article we propose an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) based model to assess customer loyalty scores for commodity brands.

Recent advances in engineering collaboration tools and internet technology have enabled firms to distribute their product development (PD) tasks to offshore sites and global outsourcing partners while still maintaining a tightly connected process.

We consider the two level supply chain of Lee et al. (Manage Sci 46(5):626-643, 2000) with nonstationary demand that follows an AR(1) process. Without information sharing in the supply chain, the retailer only conveys his order.

Speed in product development is the thin line that determines success or failure in many fast growing industries today. Strategies like set-based concurrent engineering and parallel team deployment have been used to accelerate new product introduction by successful companies like Toyota.

We study the productivity change and factors driving this change in the Indian pharmaceutical industry during 1994-2003, in the backdrop of economic liberalization and change in regulatory norms. We use a non parametric Data Envelopment based-methodology to estimate productivity change and decompose it into technical and relative efficiency changes.

Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) today is increasingly becoming more important to senior management due to its potential to strategically influence both operational performance as well as financial performance outcomes.

Firms that sell very short life cycle products often receive quantity discounts from their suppliers and transporters for placing larger orders. Practitioners and researchers have begun to recognize the need to decide the end of the season markdowns by studying the sales pattern. The use of these options can affect supply chain mismatch risks and costs.

We address the process-switching decision of a firm that adopts a mixed process strategy with respect to a new product in the context of product life cycle uncertainty. A mixed process strategy uses a flexible process in the early stages of the product's life cycle and later switches to a dedicated process to gain cost economies.

Organizational performance can be attributed to a number of factors. However, there are certain organizational factors, the presence or absence of which can determine the success or failure of the organization. There are different ways in which organizations try to improve their performance by working on such factors.