In 2013, London Water, the water system of the City of London, Ontario, has run deficits for eight of the past nine years, leading to significant pressure to pull the organization out of the red. The Water Engineering Division manager knows that something needs to change. Overhauling the rate structure is an attractive option; however, myriad political, economic and environmental issues are at play. Moreover, as steward of one of the city’s most important utilities, the manager needs to determine the best course of action, ideally a solution that will work in both the short run and the long run. See supplement case 9B15B010.
In 2010, the owner of a small air-passenger firm transports individuals and small groups to remote waterfront regions. The business serves two types of customers: private and public. The private customers can afford to pay more, while the public customers’ budget constraints limit what they can pay. The owner wants to set a single price that will maximize his expected revenue across both customer groups. A constraining factor is the plane’s limited capacity, which means the owner cannot accommodate all requests. In other words, after a flight has been sold out, seats may still be requested by customers who potentially might be willing to pay more. See supplement 9B13E014.
At the University of Wyoming, home games played by the men’s basketball team generated significant revenues for the athletics department through ticket and concession sales. With the 2009-2010 season ending, it was time to forecast revenues for the upcoming season. Even though ticket prices were already set, providing a revenue forecast was difficult, as the schedule of home games for the 2010-2011 season was not yet known, and both ticket and concession sales for each game were uncertain. A director of business operations for the athletics department needed to review data from the four most recent seasons and determine the best way to forecast revenues for the upcoming season.
The Kimpton Hotels' area director of revenue management (director) for Washington, D.C. was excited about using Priceline.com to help fill rooms on some of Kimpton's low-demand weekends. He estimated the coming weeks' demand across three rate classes and across three lengths of stay (LOS), and he wanted to make sure he did not use Priceline.com too aggressively by releasing too many rooms onto the site.
In June 2008, the Kimpton Hotels' area director of revenue management (director) for Washington, D.C. finished creating a pricing strategy that would determine the optimal posted price for rooms in the Washington, D. C. hotel as well as the number of rooms that should be provided to Priceline.com. He realized there was even more potential to gain revenue by posting more than one price; however, this would add further complexity into the strategy and he was unsure of the potential impact of having multiple posted prices.
In June 2008, the Kimpton Hotels' area director of revenue management (director) for Washington, D.C. was trying to process the most recent customer information report from Priceline.com (Priceline). In an attempt to improve revenues during periods of low occupancy at the hotel, the director had recently been using Priceline's name your own price bidding format. While using this sales channel had limited success, the director was wondering the best way to maximize the revenue coming from Priceline without cannibalizing existing sales or tarnishing the Kimpton brand. His challenge was to create a pricing strategy that would determine the optimal posted price for rooms in the Washington, D. C. hotel as well as the number of rooms that should be provided to Priceline.
The case illustrates a sports betting product offered by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission. The particular game involved has odds that favour the bettor over the game provider under certain settings. The supplement B case, product 9B09E015, summarizes the results from a series of bets made and provides an email response from the game provider following the discontinuation of this particular game. The case provides an interesting introduction into probability or simulation and expected value calculations.
This supplement to OLGC Finds Its Match (A), product # 9B09E014, summarizes the results from a series of bets and provides the email response from the game provider following the discontinuation of this particular game.
The manager of an upscale hotel in the heart of London, Ontario - The Clonlara - wanted to apply revenue management techniques to increase revenue at the hotel. Specifically, she wanted to apply quantitative analysis to determine how many rooms to discount for a Saturday night stay.
After the successful Apollo series NASA formulated a new vision for the space program, incorporating a space station and guaranteeing routine access to space via a reusable space shuttle. In 1986, the space shuttle design included two solid-rocket launchers which required the use of O-rings to seal the joints. After each launch the launchers were retrieved, inspected and possibly reused if they did not display evidence of O-ring distress. The space shuttle Challenger had flown 9 successful missions into space and was gearing up for its tenth with great fanfare due to NASA's successful public relations program, The Teacher in Space Program. The evening prior to the January 28, 1986 launch saw representatives from the Kennedy Space Centre, the Marshall Space Flight Centre and contractor Morton Thiokol participate in a 3-hour teleconference to discuss if the predicted low temperatures would have any effect on the expected performance of the O-rings. In addition to the statistical analysis of the historical O-ring failure, the stakeholders needed to communicate their results in the appropriate flow of information.
A biotech company receives umbilical cells for processing. A number of operational improvements are being considered in order to maintain the company's position and reputation in the market. Information on expected delivery dates is known. However, there is a great uncertainty around these dates. The company needs to take account of this variability when arranging for staffing.
A biotech company receives umbilical cells for processing. A number of operational improvements are being considered in order to maintain the company's position and reputation in the market. Information on expected delivery dates is known. However, there is a great uncertainty around these dates. The company needs to take account of this variability when arranging for staffing. A supporting data set is available, product 7B09E010 for the (A) case, as well as the supplemental B case, product 9B09E011.
The vice-president of the Bank of London was stunned to hear that the union representing clerical workers was initiating a complaint of gender discrimination in starting salaries. The vice-president had believed the Bank of London was actively promoting diversity and inclusion as a natural part of its culture; additionally, the senior leadership team understood how vital diversity and inclusion were to organizational effectiveness and growth. The vice-president was wondering what the accusation of discrimination was costing the Bank of London, and how to manage perceptions both inside and outside of the organization. To determine this, he wanted to understand if discrimination had in fact occurred and analyzed the following factors between male and female job-holders: beginning salary, time at current job, education and experience.