That invites a certain amount of chaos, along with higher average shipping costs, notes Wharton Business School professor Serguei Netessine.

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During the two-day meeting, which included a dinner at Gordon Ramsay's Maze restaurant, the head of Samsung's new enterprise unit, BC Cho, said it was "a little bit embarrassing" that the company's smartphones weren't being used by government agencies, considering how many consumer phones the company was shipping, according to meeting notes reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

WSJ: Pentagon Expects to Enlist Apple, Samsung Devices

And if I did want the whole album, the expectation of the production savings (no liner notes to print, no plastic case, no shipping) creates an expectation that I will pay less for that, a perception that has driven down the price of CDs to compete with digital albums.

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Along the way, Koch notes, there have been huge failures, including a foray into shipping and an attempt to build a cattle-feed-to-steaks agribusiness.

FORBES: Koch's Laws