I want your idea
 

I am working in my Doctorate and I am soliciting ideas for my dissertation topic.

I need a business problem. Not a company's problem, a general business problem. Through research I want to know why the problem exists.

I would love to find a problem related to this hobby or baseball.

Finding a niche in selling.

how about why customer service sucks so bad within so many businesses?!

I bet it's by design!!!!

Unions
 

The role of the Players association on the state of baseball in general and the sports card industry in particular

This is definitely a problem. It's not by design though, except to say that the system design itself is flawed.

What needs to happen is to provide a "vested interest" in good customer service, that the service rep understands and is working toward.

In other words, if a customer service rep is measured by the number of calls they take, then their vested interest is in making sure the time spent on each call is a short as possible. That would obviously have a negative impact on good customer service as perceived by the customer.

So, the goal then would be to design a system that aligns the vested interest of the service rep with what is perceived by customers to be good service.

Once you get a properly designed system in place, then it becomes easy to weed out the poor customer service reps.

On a side note, this is in a nutshell why people generally receive poor service from government agencies, which are ALWAYS designed around internal vested interests that are not concerned with a customers perception of good service.

One business problem for the 21st Century is how companies deal with climate change in a world of conspicuous consumption.

Another business problem is that many companies today outsource, but the labor conditions in the factories of the third world countries they outsource to can be dismal.

Another key business problem, especially in today's economy, is ensuring that workers receive a living wage. There are too many low-paying jobs - not enough quality jobs are being created.

Another topic could be how companies, and manufacturers manage waste. Particularly in a world that is running out of space or has constrained resources, how can waste be most effectively managed/reused/stored/recycled?

Hope those provide some food for thought...

Jamie - post above - nice ideas.

Following on - what about comparing the Life Cycle Assessment of an e-reader compared to a book? This opens up lots of issues - resource use, energy use, reuse or sharing of a physical book where this is not possible with an electronic version.

Along the lines of another poster is the wages of current professional baseball players compared to the average worker and how that impacts perception and attendance at a game.

Another would be to see if people going to one of the new minor league parks (with game areas, kids areas, lots of between inning events) even know what the score is at the end of the game. Perhaps compare to those attending more traditional parks.

A more general topic would the the escalation of CEO wages as compared to the wages of the average worker, compare the United States with Japan or other market economies.

How to make collecting baseball cards popular with kids without resorting to short prints or inserts.

How to reduce shilling in auctions.

Are TPG's necessary for collectibles?

How to deal w/ forgers, counterfeiters, card doctors in the collectibles market.

I thought one of the forum rules is that politics are not to be discussed. Some of the suggestions surely hit the borderline of this rule, if not crossing over it. Just saying...

I don't see it:confused: Some posters have phrased their topics for dissertation in a way that you know how they lean, but it's nothing that hasn't been discussed freely here many times before. Anything can be political if that's how we want to read it.
Here's mine:

How can anything that has ready availability hold its value.

Old baseball cards have value because of their scarcity. New ones have a value because . . . ???? It can't simply be demand, sellers have excess inventory.

The role of the U.S Government that passes legislation (just to keep government workers working) that kills small business before they ever get started. Well you asked for a subject!;););)

Sorry for trying to keep the gist of the OP question's on topic. (partly, but not totally, tongue-in-cheek)

To the OP's request - "I would love to find a problem related to this hobby or baseball."

I would offer that some of the responses, which specifically ignore this request, were made with the simple intent of espousing a politically view. Otherwise, what was the purpose of posting. (questioning the purpose of posting could be said for THIS post as well as MANY posts I've read). Similarly as well, what would the intent of the OP poster's original request be if NOT related to the hobby?

I could be wrong, but it passes the smell test (for me, anyway). And I will attempt to make this the last post on this sub-subject with my intent being not to engage in a political discussion.

I agree. I'd love to understand why sellers who want my money think they can be a douchebag and I'll still spend it with them.

Brent,

A ) What drives the baseball card hobby and how to turn that into a successful business model
B ) Business model root causes for the increase in minor league attendance
C ) Variances in classic supply and demand within the card collecting hobby
D ) Numerous other great ones already mentioned :D

Just for the record, I didn't post my ideas to forward any sort of political agenda. The OP said that he would love to find an idea that is related to the hobby, but he didn't make that a prerequisite.

One problem with doing a dissertation that's in the hobby is that, depending upon who the professor is, they might not take it seriously enough or find it sufficiently academic. Not saying that is my viewpoint, just that it's a risk.

Which aspect of business are you most into?

There are some interesting topics that are very math involved. Like
Optimal Inventory levels - For the hobby that could be based on hometown team vs popularity vs performance and portion of a players career.

Or as some have mentioned, more social topics.
Maybe player value based on public perception/popularity? For example - I'd bet the Pats sold enough Tebow stuff to cover his preseason pay with a decent profit leftover. OR in baseball, the value of keeping Bonds or Arod until a milestone is reached compared to the impact of public disfavor with the player.


Or on the customer service/sales side

Given an uncommon product just how bad can you be before profits/sales are reduced unacceptably.

Or outside the hobby, how to sell a more expensive but longer lasting product enabling you to pay higher wages but to fewer people. As an example, my first TV when I was on my own was one my family bought in 1973. It lasted a bit over 20 years before I replaced it with a similarly sized one. which also lasted around 20 years. I don't expect to get that much time from my new one, maybe half as long. Things are similar but worse for DVD players, computers, cell phones and even cars. And how much of our consumption society is driven by a created "need" for features making a 3-4 year lifecycle of a product in the $300-1500 range acceptable.

Steve B

Maybe the whole issue of self-policing industries...why the process works in some areas but hasn't taken hold with regard to sports cards and memorabilia.

One potential bbcard topic, however: The role that social media (in this case, message boards) has taken in exposing fraud in the hobby.

Thanks for the input.

I posted here to get ideas related to the hobby or baseball.

I like the minor league attendance topic.

I've thought about tpg's but I know my research would be slanted. I'm an SGC guy.

I'm open to more ideas that are related to the hobby or baseball. Just those please.

Lots of good ideas here. I want make suggestions as far as specifics. My only suggestion is to have a topic that your doctoral committee would be interested in. If they don't like it then it want fly to well.

Idea #1: Role of traditional scouting vs. Sabrmetrics (statistical analysis) in developing a major league roster with a sub topic on the impact that Sabrmetrics team building has had on free-agency. (I know, "Moneyball" and other books, but still interesting). Have the farm systems changed due to this?

Idea #2: Provide a convincing argument that is "for" the use of steroids and PEDs in professional sports. This will drive the purists mad.

Idea #3: I kinda like the business model idea for card shops. A comparison of several small mom and pops and how they stay afloat (what they sell (new or vintage, local, regional, or national, multiple sports, etc), clientele, and how they change or don't change business or marketing strategy to adjust to economic turns) as compared to big volume online sellers with no traditional brick and mortar front. Or a combination of all of the above. I would read it.

Fraud within the hobby and its negative effect on PPF, GDP, and economic growth. Many similarly illegal activities, such as the drug trade, have been considered in this light.

Ok I will throw one out.
The economic impact that TPG's have on the collectible industry.

Baseball card / collectible valuations
 

How about taking a fresh look at baseball card / collectible valuations? They have no intrinsic value like a security, and yet some sell for thousands of dollars and hold (most of) their value year after year. There are clearly supply and demand issues, but also issues related to the sales channel (auction houses, eBay, shows, private sales, etc), advertising and marketing (online and hard copy catalogs, press regarding "the Card" and rare finds, etc), and TPGs and trustworthiness in the transaction. There's also CPI and inflation in the background, presumably increasing the value of (at least some) cards regardless of supply. Also, I think it curious that the so-called heyday of baseball card collecting was the late 80s to early 90s, and yet the nation has added fully 55+ million people since that peak. Are there really less collectors (driving demand) today than back then? Finally, I for one would like to better understand the market segmentation (collectors, investors, speculators, registry competitors, etc) along with the various niche collectors (type card, team, player, set builders, subset builders, etc.). There are so many questions just around these topics alone. Good luck!

some ideas:
- Non-professional baseball players earning money (a lot of money is made on Little League World Series but kids don't see any/much of it; College baseball players not earning money for what they bring in, etc)
- lack of popularity of college baseball compared to college football
- popularity of baseball worldwide (World Baseball Classic) - is it increasing or declining?
- increase in price to attend a baseball game - can a family afford it regularly?

Brent-
I like the idea of wrapping your interest in baseball cards into the doctoral dissertation. You're going to spend much of the next several years agonizing over this dissertation -- it helps to research and write about something you enjoy. It will help you get through it.

I've given some passing thought to weaving baseball card collecting into a dissertation. I think it is a good idea - especially since it sounds like you're working on a PhD in a business field. Dissertations have to be unique, so it is not a problem to focus on a potentially niche topic like baseball cards. But, academics can also be dismissive of "less serious" topics in dissertations so it has to be carefully constructed.

Maybe you could analyze the relationship between scarcity, luxury goods, and profit using baseball cards as just one example. Card companies are possibly unique in that they are driven to make a profit by increasing demand and, consequently, increasing supply. But increasing supply to meet demand ultimately decreases demand. Cards are a disposable, faddish commodity that have no intrinsic value -- therefore the maker is motivated to sell as many as possible to maximize profit. But flooding the market quickly diminishes demand because the perception of value evaporates (e.g., the early 90's). Baseball cards are neither a luxury good, nor a commodity, nor a purely market-driven product.

In fact, no one really knows why they have value.

Possibly analyzing perceived value trends over time will reveal some idea of why baseball cards have value and what businesses can do to maximize profit while cultivating the perception of value. I don't think our lay assumptions about why baseball cards have value is necessarily fully understood. Has anyone really ever statistically modeled it?

How about moving the K12 from hardcopy books to digital books

How about the economic value a sports team brings to a community? The investment required (of the owners, government, and citizens) vs the ROI for both the owners and the community. What impact does the construction of the stadium, ease of egress, lease details (concessions, etc), play of the team, attendance, etc. have on profitability?

Well said

You may also want to consider the paradox of value (diamond-water paradox) posited by Adam Smith, and drawing a parallel to baseball cards therein, as one small segment.

Much like diamonds, baseball cards are not even remotely as useful as water. However, again much like diamonds, a single baseball card can command a price that exceeds thousands of gallons of water.

Solely within the framework of the American economy, I believe that the concept of diminishing marginal utility can be applied to water...and, within the hobby, collectors tend to chase cardboard "gems" with the same mindset that others may consider when purchasing jewelry.

Just a thought...hope it helps.

Best Regards,

Eric

Thanks Steve I tried!:D:D

Eric,
Thats Deep!:eek:

.

Probably more of a thesis paper versus a doctorate, but here is my recommendation:

The economic growth impact of converting all paper dollar bills to coins and introducing a 2 dollar coin.

I'm here in Italy and I know I drop a Euro and 2 Euro more readily due to the fact that they are coins. I believe the coin currency lasts longer and people would spend them more often.



BTW- Go Army, Beat Air Force

Short answer to this is there is a reason that customer service in most companies is a cost center, and sales is a revenue center. Cost centers tend to be more fixed costs in companies, so when operating margins need to be raised, these are the areas that are cut. Revenue centers tend to be more commission based, so their compensations can go much higher (but on the flip side, if they don't meet their sales targets, they can be fired faster).

How about the impact on the hobby due to the invention of the internet. There are lots of positive and negative topics that can be covered. You can also write a scenario on what today's card hobby would be like if there never was an internet.