So How Would You Introduce Yourself?

Only about 26 hours after arriving in Sweden, I gave a presentation to a graduate class on Financial Networks at the University of Gothenburg. My host for this class was the instructor, Dr. Taylan Mavruk of the School of Business, Economics and Law. I enjoyed speaking to his students and the lecture actually went over the allotted time but noone seemed to mind.

I was then introduced to the University of Gothenburg community where I have been appointed a Visiting Professor of Operations Management for 2012-2013.

I was asked to prepare a presentation introducing myself.

I decided to focus on International Collaborations, since such collaborations have enriched my research and cultural experiences. In my presentation, I spoke about my first visit to Sweden, which was to Umea in the north, and my receipt of the Kempe Prize from the University of Umea (I fainted when it was announced that I was sharing it with Jacques Thisse). I talked about an International Programs NSF grant that I received to work with colleagues at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, and discussed my various Fulbrights (in Austria and in Italy) as well as my experiences organizing a research team residency and a workshop at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center on Lake Como in Italy.

My "Introduction" with discussions lasted about 90 minutes, so, that afternoon, I certainly did a lot of speaking. It was very enjoyable to be meeting my new colleagues, the postdocs (fairly common in this business school in Sweden but relatively rare in the US), and students.

From that day on, I would get greetings not only in the School of Business, Economics and Law but even outside, which made me feel very at home in Sweden.

Humanitarian Logistics -- Working on the Tough Stuff

As the world marks the first anniversary of the Haiti earthquake that struck on January 12, 2010, with more than one million people there still living in tents and under tarps, I thought it important to write on how we can all learn from such catastrophic natural events and the ensuing response and reconstruction.

As an academic, I conduct research, teach, and do (tons of) professional service.

Since my general area of research is network systems, many of my topics stem from timely real-world events. Such an approach brings an immediacy to my work and also a dynamism to the classroom.

Other research topics are generated through collaborations, including those with graduate students, whose dissertations I am supervising.

Humanitarian logistics and the related theme of healthcare are two areas that I have been drawn to, beginning with the Rockefeller Foundation Conference on Humanitarian Logistics that I organized at its Bellagio Center on Lake Como in Italy.

On the website that was created for this conference, I periodically upload additional studies of ours that may be relevant and of interest to this community.

Below are some recent ones of ours.

Additional References

Supply Chain Network Design for Critical Needs with Outsourcing, Anna Nagurney, Min Yu, and Qiang Qiang, Papers in Regional Science, in press. Sustainable Supply Chain Network Design: A Multicriteria Perspective Anna Nagurney and Ladimer S. Nagurney, International Journal of Sustainable Engineering 3: (2010) pp 189-197. Multiproduct Supply Chain Network Design with Applications to Healthcare Anna Nagurney, Min Yu, and Qiang Qiang Optimal Supply Chain Network Design and Redesign at Minimal Total Cost and with Demand Satisfaction Anna Nagurney, International Journal of Production Economics 128: (2010), pp 200-208. Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain Age Anna Nagurney and Qiang Qiang, International Transactions in Operational Research, in press. We have also completed the paper: Supply Chain Network Operations Management of a Blood Banking System with Cost and Risk Minimization, joint with two of my doctoral students, Amir Masoumi and Min Yu, which is presently under review. This latest paper is an outgrowth of specific interests of Amir Masoumi. It was particularly challenging because of the complexity of the network model, which had to capture the perishability of this time-sensitive, but life-saving, "product." This paper we plan on presenting at the POMS Conference in Reno, Nevada and at the Northeast Regional INFORMS Conference in Amherst! As for our critical needs supply chain network design paper with outsourcing, the Isenberg School has issued a press release on it, which may be accessed here.

Haiti 6 Months After -- Unblock the Roads and Fragile Networks

One year ago, our book, Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain World, was published and was recently noted by the Library Journal to be a top selling book in technology and engineering.

6 months ago, on January 12, 2010, a huge earthquake hit Haiti and awakened the world to the wrought devastation.

I wrote regularly in this blog about the earthquake, the resulting human suffering and loss of lives, and the loss of critical infrastructure from the roads to telecommunications, plus hospitals and even schools, which only added to the suffering of the survivors. I also called for better coordination among the stakeholders and especially the humanitarian organizations for the provision of necessary supplies and decent logistics.

Today, The New York Times has an OpEd piece written by my colleagues at Georgia Tech, which is right on target, and which speaks to one of the major themes of our Fragile Networks book: that the identification of the critical network links before (and after) their degradation and even ultimate devastation is essential.

According to the OpEd piece, Haiti's External Weight, by Professors Desroches, Ergun, and Swann, 6 months after the earthquake: twenty million to 25 million cubic yards of debris fill the streets, yards, sidewalks and canals of Port-au-Prince — enough to fill five Louisiana Superdomes.

Debris is one of the most significant issues keeping Haitians from rebuilding Port-au-Prince and resuming normal lives. Much of the stuff has been left in place or simply moved to the center or the sides of roads. Some streets with especially large piles of refuse are impassable. As a result, it can take hours to travel just a few miles. Meanwhile, schools, hospitals, businesses and homes remain blocked.

Amazingly, only about 5% of the original debris has been properly disposed of and there are serious concerns about the ultimate impact of the debris on the environment, as well.

Clearly, the efficiency and performance of the transportation and logistical networks in Haiti have been severely affected and degraded without a timely debris removal. Since such networks provide the infrastructure for the movement of people and goods, how can Haiti's economy and its citizens move forward?!

In May, 2008, I had the privilege of convening a workshop: Humanitarian Logistics: Networks for Africa at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center on Lake Como. It was apparent to us then, as it is now, that with the increasing number of disasters documented globally more attention to education, to research, and to policy analysis regarding humanitarian logistics and sustainable operations is sorely needed.

Crises don't end once the media attention dissipates.

Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center's 50th Anniversary and Humanitarian Supply Chains

This year, the Bellagio Center, on Lake Como, Italy is marking its 50th anniversary so congratulations are certainly in order! The Bellagio Center runs programs through the Rockefeller Foundation and it has released a special book commemorating the 50th anniversary. I have been privileged to have hosted two events at the Bellagio Center. The first event took place in March 2004, and consisted of a research team residency for two weeks on dynamic networks. The second event took place in May 2008 and was the "Humanitarian Logistics: Networks for Africa" conference, which convened academics, researchers, and practitioners from several continents. Both of these programs that I organized, and for which the Isenberg School of Management is also credited, are documented in this Rockefeller Foundation publication.

It is truly worthwhile to explore the special publications with luminous photographs on the Bellagio Center website that mark its 50th anniversary. You may marvel at some of the scholars featured (some of whom have certainly been in the news a lot lately). I remember telling my undergrads at the Isenberg School when my first proposal to the Bellagio Center got funded. One of my students, Cristina Calvaneso (who not only received a Leaders for the 21st Century Award from UMass Amherst, served as a student associate of the Virtual Center for Supernetworks, and who also has had wonderful professional career since graduating in 2004) told her grandmother about this. Grandma was very pleased (but mistaken) and thought that I was going to the Bellagio in Las Vegas!

Recently, there has been increasing interest from both researchers and practitioners surrounding humanitarian logistics and supply chains and I have been receiving more and more queries about our research and activities in this dimension. I have updated the website that was created explicitly for the Humanitarian Logistics: Networks for Africa conference to include information on my new book, Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain World, with Q. Qiang, and on the book, Humanitarian Logistics, by Tomasini (who took part in my most recent Bellagio conference) and Van Wassenhove.

In addition, several associates of the Virtual Center for Supernetworks that I direct have just completed a major study on the design of supply chain networks in the case of humanitarian operations in which there is not only demand uncertainty but partnerships between/among organizations may present themselves. The study documents a new analytical framework, which is network-based, along with computer tools for scenario evaluations and simulations. This research was conducted with tremendous passion and determination since we are reading about the possible escalation of the flu come this fall and the measures that are being taken not only by vaccine and medicine manufacturers but by government, healthcare, and even educational officials. It is critical that top-level research on supply chains for humanitarian needs gets disseminated. Nevertheless, publishing and refereeing take time. At least, we know that we have done our part. Our Fragile Networks book, which includes material on humanitarian operations and supply chains, acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, which will soon be celebrating its special 10th anniversary!

New York Times -- Retraining B-Schools

In a recent article in the New York Times, "Is it Time to Retrain B-Schools?" it is argued that business schools need to seriously reexamine their curricula and foci. Clearly, this stems from the economic/financial collapse and the reexamination of important values, social issues, as well as, ethics. The article also emphasizes the need for business education to promote "relevance." I must say that it was precisely "relevance" that attracted me to be an academic at a university-based business school, since I recognized that in business research and education interdisciplinarity is essential. The NYTimes article also appears to criticize "technical" approaches to business problem-solving and perhaps that is a misunderstanding -- business problems can gain an immense amount of insights from technical approaches but these require appropriate methods and methodologies and not just a quick and simple approach. Hence, business scholarship and research are ever more important today as is the education and mentoring of PhD students in business. The article also goes on to highlight that B-schools should be emphasizing environmental research. We have been doing that since the early 1990s! For some articles on supply chains, risk management, and environmental issues, we refer you to the publications page of the Virtual Center for Supernetworks.

As for societal relevance, let me add the following. Last year I had the distinct honor and privilege of convening the conference, "Humanitarian Logistics: Networks for Africa," under the sponsorship of the Rockefeller Foundation and its Bellagio Center Program. The conference took place May 5-9, 2008 at the Foundation's Center on Lake Como, Italy. You may ask, what is the relevance of a B-school professor being engaged in such an activity? It was a high-risk endeavor but life and research-transforming. I brought together researchers and practitioners in humanitarian logistics and members of NGOs and the United Nation's International Telecommunication Union. Invited speakers were from the continents of Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America. The logistics of getting the speakers together, in itself, was a challenge, due to visa issues, for example, of several African conferees. And then, Cyclone Nargis hit in Myanmar/Burma, and our representative from the World Food Program had to be rerouted but, nevertheless, relayed information to us from the field! The faculty at the conference included faculty from top B-schools in Europe as well as from top engineering schools in the US. The insights and experiences of our African scholars and practitioners provided a serious reality check for all.

No conference that I have participated in to-date moved me more nor challenged me more. By the end, we all recognized that different perspectives to pressing issues of humanitarian logistics, both quantitative as well as qualitative, are essential, with lessons learned and best practices obtained from experiences in the field. The approaches to resolving problems in humanitarian logistics are years behind those in corporate settings, especially regarding supply chains. Where, however, is the risk higher or the uncertainty greater than in humanitarian logistics while the need to provide essential services and provisions the greatest? Where is the need for cooperation greater? Where is the need for forecasting events greater than in those scenarios that affect humans' lives and the fundamental resources and infrastructure?

So I say back to the New York Times, look more deeply, and you will see that some of the toughest problems surrounding humanity and the new world order are being recognized and studied in B-schools!