Browsing by Subject "Multitasking"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Essays on the application of multitasking in marketing channels.
    (2010-06) Banerjee, Ranjan
    Firms routinely engage channel partners to create and deliver valued products and services to end customers. There are a large variety of such partners performing several different tasks across the stages of the buying process, including prospecting for customers, making product recommendations, educating customers, and closing the sale. Managing multiple delegated tasks poses a significant challenge because efforts on individual tasks are often not directly observable. Multi-tasking (or the presence of multiple tasks) is ubiquitous in marketing channels. However, there is a dearth of empirical literature which sheds light on problems of task allocation and contract design in situations where firms desire to have multiple tasks performed through channel members. In this dissertation, we attempt to address this gap through three essays which provide theoretical and empirical insights into issues of task allocation, contract design and the relationship between contract design and channel performance in multi-task settings. In essays 1 and 2, we consider a situation where a firm wishes to have multiple tasks performed through a number of retail stores which differ in terms of locational characteristics. We build and estimate a model which is geared to this setting, and counterfactually compute the performance implications of alternative channel structures. Our results suggest a performance rationale for the deployment of multiple channels, and validate theoretical predictions about the dampening of incentive effectiveness in the presence of a non-measured second task. In essay 3 we consider a two stage process where telecallers generate leads which are then passed on to salespeople for conversion. We use a unique combination of a structural model and a field intervention to estimate relevant parameters for both salespeople and telecallers. Our analysis provides a generalizable methodology for incentive design in these settings and suggests that the nature of interdependence between tasks crucially affects incentive loading between intermediate and final outputs.
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    Human Factors Evaluation of Driver Multitasking and Genesis Message Formats
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 1996-02) Stackhouse, Stirling P.; Burrus, Max
    This research established a concise set of human factors guidelines for evaluating devices and also assessed the Genesis project's message format suitability. It provides a literature review and synthesis of human factors relating to the use of devices, such as cellular phones, pagers, and car radios, and to other tasks that drivers may undertake while driving. The work revealed that the use of information-providing devices such as pagers or PDAs will increase information processing workload; that the findings from the use of a particular device under particular conditions cannot be generalized to other devices or conditions; and that only empirical findings will show whether and under what conditions reading traffic information displayed on pagers or PDAs will seriously degrade driving performance. Work on message format evaluation showed that message formats could be improved and that improvement would result in better legibility and comprehension and decrease the time a driver would attend to the display.
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    The Interaction of Non-Driving Tasks with Driving
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 1995-02) Dewing, Wende L.; Johnson, Sara M.; Stackhouse, Stirling P.
    Drivers often perform tasks alone or in combination that don't relate to control of their vehicle. This experiment evaluates the impact on simulated driving of performing non-driving tasks. The results showed that some of these tasks significantly degraded driving performance. The task that required drivers to use the map device caused the greatest problem. In addition, older drivers performed less well than younger drivers. The study shows objective reasons for evaluating the trade-offs between maximizing traffic safety and providing drivers with information that requires a high degree of visual attention. In the experiment, drivers performed the following secondary tasks alone, as pairs, or all three simultaneously: talking on a simulated cellular telephone, finding an object in an enclosed container, and using a special radio with head-up map and text displays. The experiment required drivers to maintain speeds of 25 to 30 miles per hour, keep the car centered in their traffic lane, and respond quickly to the appearance of simulated brake lights. Researchers divided subjects into four groups of 10 members each: young females and males with an average age of 31 and older females and males with an average age of 70.