Operations Management and Strategy

The PhD major in operations management and strategy department offers two tracks: Supply Chains and Operations Management and Strategic Management.

The supply chains and operations management track covers the areas of supply chain management, and manufacturing and service operations management. In the past, manufacturing and service industries were concerned with firm-level improvement strategies, such as manufacturing resource planning (MRP II), just-in-time (JIT) or lean manufacturing systems, business process reengineering (BPR), enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, etc.

In recent years, however, inter-firm communication and coordination and ensuring a coordinated response on the part of the entire supply chain have come to be realized as the new frontier in improving operations management. This has been due to ever-increasing customer demands on price, quality, lead time, variety and the need to pursue mass customization in a global business context. The advent of inter-organizational information systems and technologies has also created unprecedented opportunities to improve supply chains. The objective of this PhD track is to train high-quality researchers and educators who can advance the knowledge in supply chains, manufacturing and service operations management, logistics and procurement in a global business context.

The strategic management track encompasses research in the areas of business policy and strategy, entrepreneurship and international business. This corresponds to research aimed at theory building and empirical validation of findings in strategic management, which has emerged as a distinct body of knowledge in recent years, addressing important research questions relating to competitive advantage and performance of organizations in a global context. The areas of investigation include competitive strategy and competitive positioning, diversification strategies, vertical integration, corporate governance, acquisitions and joint ventures, technology strategy, strategic groups, inter-firm rivalry, firm capabilities and resources, strategic decision-making processes, new venture creation and entrepreneurship and strategy implementation mechanisms. The objective of this track is to train high-quality researchers and educators who push the frontiers of knowledge in strategic management in the global business context.

The newly-formed Department of Operations Management and Strategy (OMS) provides a unique opportunity for innovation and distinctiveness by bringing together the areas of strategic management and supply chains and operations management. While a few business schools have linked operations management with other functional areas such as marketing, the new OMS department is aimed at pursuing innovative research and education that address important relationships between business strategy and entrepreneurship, and the management of globally-dispersed value chains, comprising manufacturing and service operations, logistics, procurement, outsourcing and in-sourcing in a global context. The OMS department also houses the Center for Entrepreneurship under the leadership of Dr. John Hannon.

"Our PhD students have an opportunity to learn a diverse and eclectic set of research skills and paradigms."

Nallan Suresh, Professor and Chair
Operations Management and Strategy Department

Our faculty members are committed scholars who are internationally known for their research. Our faculty are globally connected, conducting many research programs in North America, Europe and Asia. Journals such as the Academy of Management Journal and Journal of Operations Management have ranked our faculty as among the most productive nationwide.

We are currently building the new department, seeking to attract additional faculty members, especially in the strategy area in this initial year. Our faculty are actively engaged with PhD students, interacting closely and working jointly with them on many research projects.

For more information about specific research efforts of OMS faculty, please visit our Faculty Web pages. If you wish to speak to a faculty member directly, you may do so by contacting Nallan Suresh, PhD or Winston Lin, PhD.

For degree requirements please consult the latest PhD handbook by following the Handbook link in the left nagivation frame.