Seungjin Whang

Professor Emeritus, Operations, Information & Technology
+1 (650) 723-4756

Seungjin Whang

The Jagdeep and Roshni Singh Professor of Operations, Information & Technology, Emeritus

Additional Administrative Titles

Co-Director, Stanford-NUS Executive Program in International Management

Research Statement

Professor Whang’s research interest is in supply chain management and the economics of information systems. He studied how demand information may be distorted in a supply chain, and what impacts a secondary market (where retailers exchange excess inventories) has on a supply chain. He has also addressed various pricing issues in a congestion-prone facility. For example, he studied the optimal priority prices in a queueing system where users have their private information about the benefit, time value and service requirement. Recently, he analyzed the menu of fixed-up-to-tariffs structure commonly used for mobile phone service and studied how demand uncertainty affects the retailer's dynamic pricing strategy.

Bio

Seungjin Whang is the Jagdeep and Roshni Singh Professor of Operations, Information & Technology, Emeritus, Stanford Business School. He obtained a bachelor of engineering at Seoul National University, Korea (1974), master of arts (1983), master of science (1985), and PhD (1988), at the University of Rochester. He has been on the faculty of the Stanford Business School since 1987. His research interests include supply chain management and economics of information technology.

He has published widely in academic journals including Management Science, Operations Research, and Information Systems Research (ISR). In 2005 his paper “Information Distortion in a Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect,” coauthored with H. Lee and P. Padmanabhan (1997), was elected to be one of the “top ten most influential” papers in Management Science in its 50 years of publications history. The same paper also ranked as the 4th most-cited paper among all papers published in Management Science. Its companion paper (with Hau Lee and V. Padmanabhan) was listed as one of the top 10 papers in classroom use among all published in Sloan Management Review (Dec 2013). In addition, his paper “Optimal Incentive-Compatible Priority Pricing for the M/M/1 Queue,” coauthored with Haim Mendelson (1990), was the 7th most-cited paper among the papers published in Operations Research between 1952 and Aug. 2012. Also, his 2002 paper “e-Business and Supply Chain Management: An Overview and Framework,” (with Eric Johnson) was all time top paper for all papers in SSRN Jan 1997 through July 2014 in the topic area of Innovation & Operations. Mendelson (1990), was the 7th most-cited paper among the papers published in Operations Research between 1952 and Aug. 2012. Also, his 2002 paper “e-Business and Supply Chain Management: An Overview and Framework,” (with Eric Johnson) was all time top paper for all papers in SSRN Jan 1997 through July 2014 in the topic area of Innovation & Operations.

During 2006-2008 he served as senior editor to Information Systems Research. He teaches various courses in Supply Chain Management and has prepared cases on Tamagoya of Japan, Big Cola in Mexico, OnStar, POSCO, SAP R/3, Seven Eleven Japan, Toyota, and TSMC. He won Honorable Mention in Distinguished Teaching Award at the Stanford GSB in 1995-1996. At Stanford, he serves as codirector of the Stanford-NUS Executive Program. Outside, he serves on the advisory boards of Altos Ventures and Gilead Sciences.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD, University of Rochester, 1988
  • MS, University of Rochester, 1985
  • MA, University of Rochester, 1983
  • BEng, Seoul National University, 1974

Academic Appointments

  • At Stanford University since 1987
  • Visiting Professor, Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University, Spring 1985
  • Instructor, University of Rochester, 1986-1987

Professional Experience

  • Systems Analyst, Bank of Seoul and Trust, 1980-1981

Awards and Honors

  • Two-page laudatio in honor of his research, The Production and Operations Management (POM), July, 2017
  • Finmeccanica Faculty Scholar, 1994-1996, 1996
  • Bob and Marilyn Jaedicke Faculty Scholar for 1991-1992, 1992
  • Fletcher Jones Faculty Scholar for 1989-1990, 1990
  • IBM Research Award, 1986

Publications

Journal Articles

Yasushi Masuda, Seungjin Whang
Information Systems and E-Business Management
November 2019 Vol. 19 Pages 389–403
Hau L. Lee, V. Padmanabhan, Seungjin Whang
Management Science
April 2004 Vol. 50 Issue 12 Supplement Pages 1875-1886
Hau L. Lee, Seungjin Whang
Management Science
2002 Vol. 48 Issue 6 Pages 719-731
Hau L. Lee, Seungjin Whang
Sloan Management Review
15, 2001
Hau L. Lee, V. Padmanabhan, Terry A. Taylor, Seungjin Whang
Management Science
2000 Vol. 46 Issue 4 Pages 467-482
Yasushi Masuda, Seungjin Whang
Management Science
1999 Vol. 45 Issue 6 Pages 857-869
Morris A. Cohen, Seungjin Whang
Management Science
1997 Vol. 43 Issue 4 Pages 535-545
William S. Lovejoy, Seungjin Whang
Operations Research
September 1995 Vol. 43 Issue 5 Pages 851-861
Seungjin Whang
Management Science
August 1995 Vol. 41 Issue 8 Pages 1343-1352
Seungjin Whang
Management Science
March 1992 Vol. 38 Issue 3 Pages 307-324
Evan L. Porteus, Seungjin Whang
Management Science
1991 Vol. 37 Issue 9 Pages 1166-1181

Academic Publications

Seungjin Whang
Manufacturing and Service Operations Management
December 2015 Vol. 17 Issue 1 Pages 1–134

Teaching

Executive Education & Other Non-Degree Programs

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Explore international management, strategy, and leadership perspectives from both sides of the Pacific Rim with NUS Business School and Stanford GSB.

Stanford Case Studies

Jin Whang, Kenya Yamamoto
2016
Seungjin Whang
2008
David Hoyt, Seungjin Whang
2007
Shinya Fushimi, Jason Kaminsky, Veronica Rocha, John Tsou, Seungjin Whang
2007
Casey Koshijima, Hide Saito, Takafumi Ueda, Steve Van Horne, Seungjin Whang
2006
Hau L. Lee, Seungjin Whang, David Hoyt
2005
Hau Lee, Barchi Peleg, Seungjin Whang
2005
Hau Lee, Barchi Peleg, Seungjin Whang
2005
Peter Koudal, Hau Lee, Barchi Peleg, Paresh Rajwat, Seungjin Whang
2004
Seungjin Whang, Barchi Peleg
2004
Laura Kopczak, Hau Lee, Seungjin Whang
2000
Hau Lee , Terry Taylor, Seungjin Whang
1999
Seungjin Whang, Hau Lee, G. Schmidt
1996
Seungjin Whang, Hau Lee
1995
Hau Lee, Seungjin Whang
1992

In the Media

Insights by Stanford Business

December 06, 2019
Stanford GSB professors recommend the books they’re most likely to give as presents over this year’s holiday season.
May 01, 2005
A next-generation business model attempts to pinpoint the right individual with the right message, product, or service.
March 01, 1999
Research looks at how much supply chain data should be kept secret.
March 01, 1995
How shared sales data, computer-based ordering, consolidating deliveries, and other innovations can benefit all stakeholders.

School News

February 22, 2016
One recent participant in a Stanford Executive Education program discovered that changing the world begins with educating himself.