Pitt Business e-newsletter Issue 12, November 2008
Focus on Operations
Research
The ODSAI group is recognized as having the largest number of citations per researcher in the United States for the period 1992-2003J, demonstrating that the group's members are adept at identifying significant problems of general interest and at making important contributions to the solutions of such problems. The areas in which most of the citations occurred are decision theory, optimization and networks, simulation methodology, supply chain management, and data mining/artificial intelligence. Some of the most recent publications of our faculty (in boldface type) are listed below:
Jerry May, E. Gal-Or, M. Gal-Or, and W.E. Spangler "Targeted Advertising Strategies on Television," Management Science 52: (2006) 713-725.
Balakrishnan, A., P. Mirchandani, and H. Natarajan, "Connectivity Upgrade Models for Survivable Network Design." Accepted for publication in Operations Research (2007).
Thomas Saaty "Group Decision Making: Drawing Out and Reconciling Differences" (with Kirti Peniwati), RWS Publications, 4922 Ellsworth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, (2008).
Thomas Saaty and Luis Vargas, Decision Making with the Analytic Network Process: Economic, Political, Social and Technological Applications with Benefits, Opportunities, Costs and Risks, (2006), Springer's International Series.
Jennifer Shang, T. Yildirim, P. Tadikamalla, V. Mittal, L. Brown, "Distribution Network Redesign for Marketing Competitiveness." Accepted for publication in Journal of Marketing (2009).
Pandu Tadikamalla with D. Popescu and Mihai Banciu "An Improved Range Chart for Normal and Long-tailed Symmetrical Distributions," Naval Research Logistics, pp 91-99 (2008).
Richard Wendell, "Tolerance Sensitivity and Optimality Bounds in Linear Programming," Management Science, June 2004.
Honors and Awards
Operations faculty gets recognized in many ways for their contributions to research, teaching, and community services. Professor Thomas L. Saaty, University Chair, was awarded the 2008 Impact Prize from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. The award recognizes Saaty's seminal work on the Analytic Hierarcy Process -a methodology for making complex, multicriteria decisions, which revolutionized how these problems are resolved. Saaty also received the 2007 Akao Prize for excellence in Quality Function deployment (QFD) at the 13th Annual International Symposium on QFD. In 2008, he visited Spain to address the Royal Academy of Sciences of which Saaty has been a member since 1971.
Teaching
The quality of teaching in the Operations group is very high across all the programs. Nearly all of the faculty members in the group have won teaching awards in the undergraduate or MBA programs at least once during their tenure.
Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate
In 2008, Professor Pandu R. Tadikamalla in conjunction with Medrad Corporation (a Malcolm Balridge National Quality Award Winner) developed and taught a three-credit MBA elective course, called Six Sigma: Theory, Practice and Certification. The 32 participating students received Green Belt certificates from both Katz and Medrad.
Modeled after Pitt's successful Plus3 study abroad program, and in line with University's new initiatives in India, Associate Professor G.G. Hegde in a joint partnership with Bopaya Bidanda—the Ernest Roth Professor and Chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering in the University's Swanson School of Engineering—and with the support from the International Business Center, introduced a course last summer focusing on India, Engineering and Business Collaborations in India. For the first time at Pitt, he led a two-week course for MBA engineering students in Bangalore, India. The course introduced MBA and upper division students to studying modern engineering and business principles, methods, and tools within the context of the Indian environment. The three focal areas of study in this program were manufacturing systems, service engineering operations, and call centers. By running the program in India, students were exposed to challenges and opportunities available at the corporate level and at the individual level in this rapidly growing economy. Students also learned about the societal impacts of new technologies and the rapid expansion of value chains in India. Furthermore, providing students with interdisciplinary interactions in international settings broadens their perspectives and enables them to work in cross-functional and pluralistic work environments. Students can utilize this forum to analyze and visualize service, manufacturing, and engineering challenges and opportunities in a global context. The course will be offered again in summer 2009.
Value Chain/Supply Chain (VC/SC) Focus
Globalization has created substantial opportunities for individuals and organizations equipped to capitalize on evolving supply chains. In an effort to help the strategic vision of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration with the curriculum emphasis on experience, learning, and leadership, the Operations Interest Group is moving forward with the development of an action plan. In 2007 a Value Chain/Supply Chain task force was commissioned by Dean John Delaney. A comprehensive report was delivered that identified a substantial amount of coursework being offered in the value chain/supply chain area by several interest groups, as well as an outlined strategy for areas of future improvement. One recommendation was to reach out to the business community, establish a value chain/supply chain forum or advisory group that would include the voice of industry in identifying both the immediate and long term needs of the industry. Other considered outcomes of the VC/SC advisory group include integration opportunities for the faculty's related supply chain research, establishment of real-world learning opportunities for students, and the development of a leadership alliance program with both industry and University faculty teaming up to focus on transformative opportunities within the VC/SC area.
Associate Professor Mike Donohoe was hired as a non-tenure stream faculty member, to develop the communication bridge to the business community, with the mission to seek active, knowledgeable, and industry leaders for the Value Chain/Supply Chain advisory panel. Once organized, the advisory panel's role, in addition to providing industry needs for future curriculum alignment, would include the following areas of consideration: creation of industry-recognized skills certificates in both Six Sigma and Enterprise Resource Planning applications, discovery of areas of opportunity for the integration of research from the various interest groups within the Katz School and CBA, and collaborative opportunities with the University's Swanson School of Engineering's RFID Center of Excellence.
Operations Club
The Katz Operations Club seeks to promote, foster interest, and provide extra-curricular learning opportunities in activities related to the operations function of both manufacturing and service organizations. These activities include, supply chain management, quality management, and project management, among others. To aid in the professional development of students interested in operations, the club organizes plant tours, seminars by business executives, networking events, and much more. Recent off-site visits have included tours to the Harley-Davidson motorcycle plant, a FedEx facility, the main distribution center for Giant Eagle Inc., and a Wal-Mart Distribution Center. In the recent past, Professors Prakash Mirchandani and Pandu R. Tadikamalla have served as the faculty advisors for the operations club.
