I want your idea

[brewing]

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.

[Brian Van Horn]

Finding a niche in selling.

[ullmandds]

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

I bet it's by design!!!!

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

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

I bet it's by design!!!!

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.

[cyseymour]

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...

[mart8081]

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.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

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

I bet it's by design!!!!

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.

[tschock]

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

[cyseymour]

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.

[steve B]

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

[mark evans]

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.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

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

I bet it's by design!!!!

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).

[Ronnie73]

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.

[ALR-bishop]

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

[ReefBlue]

Originally Posted by brewing

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.

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.

[Deertick]

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?