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China’s Slowdown: The First Stage of the Bullwhip Effect

Harvard Business Review

The bullwhip effect is the amplified response to demand signals as one moves “upstream” in the supply chain: from retailers to manufacturers to suppliers to commodity providers. Here’s a hypothetical illustration of the bullwhip effect: A retailer might experience an X% drop in sales owing to some external event.

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Who Rules the Web Now?

Harvard Business Review

Wired reported late last year, "The top 10 Web sites accounted for 31% of US page views in 2001, 40% in 2006, and 75% in 2010." As each of these companies expands its fixed-cost infrastructure, profits grow geometrically because the additional variable cost of adding each new user is near zero. These are tech companies.

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The U.S. Media’s Problems Are Much Bigger than Fake News and Filter Bubbles

Harvard Business Review

” During the volcanic ash crisis of 2010, what it offered wasn’t prize-winning stories about the roots of the eruption or its health implications, but an app (Hitchhiker’s Central) that allowed readers to share travel plans and offer rides to each other. Fixed costs have always been central to the economics of media.

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