Business & Entrepreneurship

Two U.S. retailers made moves this week to regulate their gun sales based on principle — moves that legislators failed to make in recent years despite public outcry following each incident in a line of mass-shooting tragedies. A pair of Washington University in St. Louis experts say that these actions represent “an expansion of corporate social responsibility,” even if the retailers financially may suffer amid something of a consumer backlash.

In the first test of detailed consumer-buying habits by categories at more than one chain store selling groceries, a team of business school researchers, led by Washington University in St. Louis, found that shoppers weren’t monogamist or bigamist but rather polygamist in their choice of outlets. In fact, it turns out that grocery categories such as dessert toppings, motor oil, candles and refrigerated ethnic foods were some of the leading products that lure customers to separate stores.

In a concentrated, continuing effort to link Washington University in St. Louis academic research to everyday business practice, the 10th annual Olin Award recognizes an Olin Business School faculty member who joined two University of Pennsylvania professors in crafting a computer model to guide managers who need to forecast behaviors of newly acquired customers.

Each fall, doctors stress the importance of getting a flu shot, but on-time delivery of the vaccine can often be tricky, with shortages during times of peak demand. Research co-authored by Olin’s Fuqiang Zhang proposes a new tweak to the vaccine supply chain that could reduce patient wait time.

An undergraduate success story: Jolijt Tamanaha spent her last weeks of junior year at Washington University in St. Louis making a deal to sell a startup she co-founded called Farmplicity — an online marketplace that matches restaurants with local farmers — founded in a course through Olin Business School called The Hatchery.

Panos Kouvelis, PhD, senior associate dean and director of executive programs at Olin Business School and an expert in the field of supply chain management, has been named to the U.S. Commerce Department’s new Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness.