Work Design and Measurement

Bite Ninja Uses Remote Gig Workers to Take Faster Food Orders

During the pandemic, finding employees has become difficult. The fast food industry has been hit especially hard by a shortage of employees.

Many restaurant workers have left the industry for reasons including better pay, fewer health risks, and more stability. Additionally, enhanced unemployment benefits in the U.S. have kept many workers out of the workforce.

Bite Ninja offers a new approach to help alleviate the employee shortage. This service uses technology to allow workers to take orders at drive-thru restaurants remotely. Workers […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2021-08-31T05:28:37+00:00August 31, 2021|Tags: capacity, gig economy, scheduling, service design, service processes, technology, waiting lines|

The Post Office Reinvents Itself with Banking and Alcohol Deliveries

Message in a bottle. Money, it’s a hit. Can they save the Post Office?

Loss of revenue from first class mail, competition, and a mandate to prepay retirement benefits 75 years into the future have created a financial crisis for the US Postal Service. Because Congress has shown little appetite to repeal the mandate, many solutions have been proposed to alleviate the financial woes of a well-liked institution. Recently, two proposals have been gaining traction: allow the USPS to deliver alcohol […]

By CMKaruppan|2021-04-04T20:28:10+00:00April 16, 2021|Tags: cost-benefit analysis, mix flexibility, service design, value, work design|

The Impact of COVID-19 on Hospital Resources

Healthcare professionals are often described as the heroes of the COVID-19 crisis.

For more than a year, they have shown a remarkable resilience. Under extreme duress, they have expanded their skill repertoire and stretched their own physical and emotional limits to provide complex and compassionate care. The article underscores the difficulty of formulating capacity plans to respond quickly and effectively to successive surges in demand while normal revenue streams are constrained.

Video Spotlight: Burnout in the ICU

This […]

By CMKaruppan|2021-03-07T21:39:05+00:00March 11, 2021|Tags: flexibility, short term capacity, strategic capacity management, work force scheduling|

The Many Benefits of Healthier Building Design

The pandemic has stimulated corporate interest in redesigning workspaces with better air filtration systems and more sustainable materials.

The concept of bringing the health benefits of the outdoors to an inside environment is called “biophilic design”. Benefits include lower energy costs, healthier workplaces for employees, and overall improved office productivity.

Video Spotlight:

Is Biophilic Design the Future? (Apr 29, 2020, Art in Offices)
Tech giants agree – biophilic office design increases happiness and […]

By David Little, Ph.D.|2020-12-08T19:25:46+00:00December 9, 2020|Tags: covid-19, pandemic, productivity, servicescape, sustainability|