Author Profile

Author Image

Thomas, Doug

Fanatics, Inc.

Thomas, Doug ; Maiden, Stephen E.

OM-1808 | Published May 10, 2024 | 10 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

It was the summer of 2020. Jim Welles, the director of a fulfillment center in Las Vegas for Fanatics, Inc. (Fanatics), and his team needed to make inventory and staffing decisions to support shipment... Read More

Queueing Fundamentals

Feldman, Pnina ; Thomas, Doug

OM-1802 | Published February 19, 2024 | 6 pages Technical Note

Collection: Darden School of Business

This note examines queuing fundamentals and introduces a basic model, variability in systems (arrivals and service processes), and approaches to measure and reduce it. The material also includes pract... Read More

Ecommerce Brands: Digital Scale

Laseter, Timothy M. ; Thomas, Doug ; Yemen, Gerry

OM-1776 | Published December 21, 2022 | 16 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This case uses Ecommerce Brands (ECB), an aggregator of online retailers focusing on the auto parts space, to prompt an analysis of the firm’s capabilities, scalability, and operations strategy. ECB w... Read More

Backcountry.com and Leveraging Data Analytics

Thomas, Doug ; Maiden, Stephen E. ; Andrews, William

OM-1771 | Published October 05, 2022 | 15 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This field-based case follows Chris Purkey, the senior vice president of sales and customer service at Backcountry.com, in his journey to use data analytics to improve customer engagement in the outdo... Read More

Fairphone (B): Is It Really Worth It?

Mani, Vidya ; Thomas, Doug ; Medack, Alexandra

OM-1713 | Published August 26, 2022 | 8 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This case is a follow-up to "Fairphone (A): Can a Start-Up Change an Industry?" (UVA-OM-1712). Fairphone's goals to keep producing an ethically sourced smartphone were noble, but "doing well by doing... Read More

Regulations and Standards: Electronics Supply Chain

Mani, Vidya ; Thomas, Doug ; Medack, Alexandra

OM-1714 | Published August 26, 2022 | 10 pages Technical Note

Collection: Darden School of Business

Standards and regulations exist to ensure supply chains are not exploitative of the people, environments, and materials with which they interact. This technical note concentrates on two aspects of the... Read More

Electronics Supply Chain Overview

Mani, Vidya ; Thomas, Doug ; Medack, Alexandra

OM-1716 | Published August 26, 2022 | 14 pages Technical Note

Collection: Darden School of Business

Electronics are sophisticated products with an equally complicated supply chain. Within the consumer electronics industry, revenue is forecast at 1.82% annual growth, with user penetration climbing fr... Read More

Blue Apron: Has the Supply Chain Disrupter Been Disrupted?

Mani, Vidya ; Thomas, Doug ; Maiden, Stephen E.

OM-1769 | Published March 14, 2022 | 15 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This public-sourced case set in early 2022 explores the meal-kit-delivery service Blue Apron, a pioneer in the rapidly growing market of alternatives to shopping for food, meal planning, and cooking. ... Read More

Food Supply and COVID-19: Breaking the Chain (B)

Mani, Vidya ; Thomas, Doug ; Maiden, Stephen E.

OM-1768 | Published March 02, 2022 | 4 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This case, a follow-up to "Food Supply and COVID-19: Breaking the Chain (B)" (UVA-OM-1691), looks at how the global food supply chain was faring almost 18 months after John Tyson wrote that America's ... Read More

Counterfeits and E-Commerce: Why Even Build It?

Mani, Vidya ; Thomas, Doug ; Maiden, Stephen E.

OM-1753 | Published February 28, 2022 | 8 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This public-sourced case set in early 2021 examines the role counterfeiting has come to play in e-commerce, specifically at Amazon, which represents over one-third of the US online market. The case's ... Read More

Food Supply and COVID-19: Breaking the Chain (A)

Mani, Vidya ; Thomas, Doug ; Maiden, Stephen E.

OM-1691 | Published March 05, 2021 | 16 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This case uses the impact of the global pandemic on the concentrated meatpacking industry to explore management of supply chain disruptions. COVID-19 had created massive problems at Tyson Foods, with ... Read More

Devils Backbone Brewing: Integrated Independence?

Thomas, Doug ; Craddock, Jenny

OM-1616 | Published January 22, 2020 | 16 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This case presents a scenario wherein Hayes Humphreys, the Chief Operating Officer of Devils Backbone Brewing Company (DBB), has just attended a quarterly summit held by Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) for... Read More

From Stuffing to Streamlining: Pharmaceutical Distribution

Thomas, Doug ; Zhao, Hui ; Maiden, Stephen E. ; Yemen, Gerry

F-1859 | Published April 22, 2019 | 17 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This case uses the streamlining of pharmaceutical distribution to explore supply-chain coordination. For years, supply-chain inventory information had been opaque. Then in the early 2000s, pharmaceuti... Read More

Goodio Supply Chain: A Chocolatey Future?

Thomas, Doug ; Kraft, Tim ; Hamalainen, Markko ; Yemen, Gerry ; Zhang, Meng Yuan ; Zheng, Yanchong

OM-1613 | Published January 17, 2019 | 12 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This case uses the experiences of a Finnish craft chocolate company to analyze the impact of supply chain transparency on suppliers and consumers. The case discusses the rationale behind entrepreneur ... Read More

Fairphone (A): Can a Start-Up Change an Industry?

Mani, Vidya ; Thomas, Doug ; Medack, Alexandra

OM-1712 | Published | 9 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

Fairphone, a "social enterprise" that created the world’s first ethically sourced smartphone, had revolutionized consumers' and investors' expectations around environmental, social, and governance (ES... Read More

California Closets: Rethink, Rebuild (A)

Thomas, Doug ; Chinnaswamy, Trent ; Yemen, Gerry

OM-1810 | Published | 13 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

In July 2021, Peer Nielsen, partner at the Business Improvement Group, was deciding how to improve manufacturing at California Closets. Although sales were expected to exceed current production by the... Read More

California Closets: Rethink, Rebuild (B)

Thomas, Doug ; Chinnaswamy, Trent ; Yemen, Gerry

OM-1812 | Published | 4 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

This case, a follow-up to "California Closets: Rethink, Rebuild (A)" (UVA-OM-1810), examines how Peer Nielsen's recommendations led to significant improvements at California Closets and explores chall... Read More