We support rigorous research that is immediately applicable to real-world situations related to the choices and challenges faced by today’s global value chain leaders.
Projects may be structured as theoretical or model-based research, empirical research, or detailed field-based studies in any the following themes:
- Electronic commerce
- Global trade dynamics
- Retail supply chains
- Agricultural value chains
- Data-driven decision-making
- Electronic marketplaces
- Omnichannel fulfillment and logistics
- Service value chains
- Product digitization
- Shared value chain strategies
- Social media in the value chain
Material Selection to Improve Sustainability in the Apparel Industry
The large amounts of resources required for producing the materials our garments are made of and the significant levels of pollution associated with textile and garment production and disposal are some of the major environmental concerns…
Exploring the Right Logistics Strategy for China-U.S. B2C Cross-Border E-commerce
Sound logistics services are critical for supporting business-to-consumer cross-border e-commerce (CBEC), given consumers’ expectations for a fast, affordable, and reliable order delivery. Yet fulfilling orders placed by customers located in a…
Transforming Logistics with AI
The use of AI-based technologies in logistics has the potential to reduce operating costs, increase efficiency and service levels, and improve quality of life for some. Yet many hurdles to adopting such technologies, both technical and otherwise…
The Road Toward A Circular Value Chain
The linear consumption model, under which products are made, consumed, and then thrown away, is reaching its limits. The excessive pressure this model puts on natural ecosystems, the pollution of air, land, and water bodies resulting from the…
How to Turn a Supply Chain Platform into an Innovation Engine
Most companies have digital platforms that support specific functions, such as supply chain management, product design, or operations, and they tightly regulate who may join the platform. The Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier has taken a…
Sustainable Procurement Barometer 2021
Sustainability has become a topic of great interest and is increasingly viewed as a source of competitive advantage that innovative companies can tap into. Sourcing and procurement are key to a company’s efforts to drive sustainability. Yet,…
Value Chains in a Post-COVID World
On June 3, 2021, the Value Chain Innovation Initiative hosted the executive workshop “Value Chains in a Post-COVID World,” to explore the long-term impacts of the pandemic on companies’ value chains. Examples of topics covered include changes in…
Creating Value with Blockchain: A Value Chain Management Perspective
The goal of this paper is to evaluate blockchain technology in the context of value chain management, and identify the types of applications where the technology can potentially offer a real advantage over traditional solutions. We begin by…
Value Chains in Turbulent Times
Trade tensions, natural disasters, and the current global pandemic bring with them many challenges. Yet a variety of strategies, technologies, and digital innovations can help companies reduce risk and enhance supply chain resilience and agility…
Designing the Right Global Supply Chain Network
This paper considers how research in operations management can support the development of strategies for the design and management of global supply chains. It includes a model-based statement of the problem and an overview of highlights of past…
Designing Contracts and Sourcing Channels to Create Shared Value
In complex supply chains, the benefits and costs of technological innovations do not always accrue equitably to all parties; thus, their adoption may critically depend on sourcing relationships and incentives. In a setting with uncertain and…
Leveraging Blockchain for Value Chain Innovation
Blockchain technology has real potential to provide business value. While many technical, financial, and regulatory hurdles still remain, blockchain offers significant opportunity for innovation along the value chain.Â
Value Chain Innovation: The Promise of AI
Artificial intelligence has been touted as a technology with great promise for value chain improvements. This paper shares our understanding of how AI can improve various stages in the value chain, provides insight on how to design business…
Big Data and the Innovation Cycle
Big data and the related methodologies could have great impacts on operations and supply chain management. Such impacts could be realized through innovations leveraging big data. The innovations can be described as first improving existing…
OM Forum — Benchmarking Global Production Sourcing Decisions: Where and Why Firms Offshore and Reshore
Problem definition: Manufacturing firms are undergoing restructuring defined by a collection of adjustments and decisions, which affect the source and destination of manufactured products throughout the firm’s global supply chain network. We…
Randomized Markdowns and Online Monitoring
Online retail reduces the costs of obtaining information about a product’s price and availability and of flexibly timing a purchase. Consequently, consumers can strategically time their purchases, weighing the costs of monitoring and the risk of…
Socially and Environmentally Responsible Value Chain Innovations: New Operations Management Research Opportunities
By examining the state of operations management (OM) research from 1980 to 2015 and by considering three new industry trends, we propose new OM research directions in socially and environmentally responsible value chains that fundamentally expand…
Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
Sourcing Under Supplier Responsibility Risk: The Effects of Certification, Audit, and Contingency Payment
Companies that source from emerging economies often face supplier responsibility risks, namely, financial and reputational burdens that the companies have to bear when their suppliers’ engagement in noncomplying labor and environmental practices…
Technology in Agribusiness: Opportunities to Drive Value
New technologies are driving fundamental shifts in the evolving agribusiness value chain, from operational excellence and supply chain orchestration, to transparency. Advancements in artificial intelligence, system design solutions, and…
Incentive Alignment and Coordination of Project Supply Chains
We consider a project supply chain where a manufacturer carries out a sequence of tasks, and each task requires certain key materials from a supplier. Since a fixed-price contract cannot attain channel coordination, we focus on time-based…
Using Value Chains to Enhance Innovation
Past research (along with our experience) suggests that a firm’s supply chain (i.e., value chain) plays an integral role in its ability to not only reduce cost via process innovation, but also in its ability to develop new products and services.…
Beef in Brazil: Shrinking Deforestation While Growing the Industry
In June 2009, Greenpeace accused the cattle industry of contributing to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Big brands that bought beef and leather were named as silent partners to the practice. Pressure from Greenpeace and the Brazilian…
Supply Chain Coordination with Multiple Shipments: The Optimal Inventory Subsidizing Contracts
We study a supply chain involving a supplier–retailer relationship. When production lead-time is long and the selling season is short, the retailer has to place an order ahead of the season, which resembles the classical Newsvendor model. However…