Operations
Solving Operational Problems Is the Real Engine of CarMax’s Success
CarMax revolutionized the used car market by implementing a fixed-price retail model. But co-founder Austin Ligon ’80 says the company’s financial success came from developing efficient back-end operations through a long-term focus on process improvement.
Three Questions: Prof. Edieal Pinker on Holiday Travel
We asked Prof. Edieal Pinker if operations research can make airline travel less unpleasant.
Can Operations Research Help Find Terrorists?
Yale SOM’s Edward H. Kaplan uses queuing algorithms to estimate how many terror cells exist and determine how to efficiently combat them.
How Dangerous Is America?
In the Boston Globe Magazine, Professor Edward Kaplan writes that although more Americans report being worried about terror attacks, we are safer than we often feel. He cites his research that estimated the number of hidden terror plots being planned in the U.S. at any given time.
What makes an organization change?
With the financial sector attempting to adapt to regulatory and economic uncertainty, firms are forced to prioritize and change. Phil Davis '85, an experienced management consultant, discusses the factors that can make organizational change succeed or fail, whether in the financial industry or another sector.
What is trust worth?
Steve LaVoie founded Arrowstream to improve supply-chain management in the restaurant business. He discovered that the benefits of trust in markets have been overlooked, in part because of an overemphasis on individual actors as opposed to relationships. He also learned that building and maintaining trust is hard work.
