Operations & Technology Management

Faculty Research Areas

Supply Chain Management Special Interest Group

Research in this area views the optimal management of the supply chain as a source of sustained competitive advantage. Modeling-oriented research focuses on developing decision support systems that can capture and optimize the real-world constraints influencing supply chain performance. Empirically oriented research focuses on explaining what characteristics drive optimal supply chain performance. Both frameworks rely on combining theoretical course work and close interaction with industry to ensure the applicability of the research. Some topics of particular interest and current research activity include:

• International Supply Chain Optimization—determining optimal supply chain structures for globally dispersed supply chains.
• Operations Strategy and Supply Chain Configuration Strategies—developing supply chain strategies and operational choices that create competitive advantage in both manufacturing and services.
• Inventory Policies for Multi-company Supply Chains—explicitly modeling the cost differences between the various supply chain participants
• Mapping the Information Supply Chain—recognizing and modeling the difference between product and information supply chains
• Planning for Multi-generation Products—developing pricing, capacity, and production plans that consider the interactions between product generations.
• Web-based Business-to-Business Ordering—examining the efficiency gains from moving industrial customers to internet-based ordering.
• Demand driven supply chains - where real-time demand information and inventory visibility were once impossible dreams, examining how web-based technologies can now be used to improve forecasting, planning, and managing customer relationships.

Selected Recent Publications

Frohlich, M. T., and R. Westbrook, "Arcs of Integration, an International Study of Supply Chain Strategies", Journal Of Operations Management, Winter 2001.

Graves, S. C., and S. P. Willems, "Optimizing Strategic Safety Stock Placement in Supply Chains," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Winter 2000, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 68-83.