Even Recap – Supply Chain Lessons From the COVID Pandemic – April 9

Last updated 05/23/2022

The USC Retired Faculty & Staff Associations and USC Emeriti Center hosted Dr. S. “Raj” Rajagopalan, Professor of Data Sciences and Operations, USC Marshall School of Business on April 9.

Here is the recording:

Corporations, government, and non-profit organizations have faced numerous supply chain disruptions and related challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chains in almost every industry have been disrupted, including food, consumer staples, and medical equipment, adversely impacting consumers, hospitals, etc. around the world. Some supply chain challenges have been managed effectively while others could have been managed better. In this talk, Dr. Rajagopalan discussed why these supply chain challenges arose and what organizations can do to both minimize potential supply chain disruptions and mitigate the impact of such disruptions. He described fundamental supply chain principles that can be deployed to effectively manage supply chains. He also illustrated the application of these principles with examples such as the distribution of medical equipment and supplies, vaccines, etc.

Dr. S. “Raj” Rajagopalan  is a Professor in the Data Science and Operations Department at the Marshall School of Business at USC. He was Chair of the Department from 2000 to 2004. He holds a Ph.D. in Operations and Technology Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

He has taught in various graduate programs at the Marshall School since 1988 as well as Executive programs. He has consulted in areas such as supply chain management, revenue maximization, process improvement, production and staff planning, forecasting and logistics for Johnson and Johnson, Hewlett Packard, Fidelity Investments, Amcor Sunclipse, American Golf, Coleman, etc.

His research interests include supply chain management, process and quality improvement. He has published numerous articles on these topics in leading journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and  Production and Operations Management. He is currently serving as a Senior Editor at Production and Operations Management and has served as an Associate Editor at Management Science and Operations Research, and as a Department Editor at IIE Transactions.