Paul R. Kleindorfer

Bio: Paul R. Kleindorfer is an academic researcher from INSEAD. The author has contributed to research in topics: Universal service & Competition (economics). The author has an hindex of 48, co-authored 222 publications receiving 10747 citations. Previous affiliations of Paul R. Kleindorfer include International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis & International Institute of Minnesota.

Managing Disruption Risks in Supply Chains

Abstract: There are two broad categories of risk affecting supply chain design and management: (1) risks arising from the problems of coordinating supply and demand, and (2) risks arising from disruptions to normal activities. This paper is concerned with the second category of risks, which may arise from natural disasters, from strikes and economic disruptions, and from acts of purposeful agents, including terrorists. The paper provides a conceptual framework that reflects the joint activities of risk assessment and risk mitigation that are fundamental to disruption risk management in supply chains. We then consider empirical results from a rich data set covering the period 1995–2000 on accidents in the U. S. Chemical Industry. Based on these results and other literature, we discuss the implications for the design of management systems intended to cope with supply chain disruption risks.

Sustainable Operations Management

Abstract: Operations management researchers and practitioners face new challenges in integrating issues of sustainability with their traditional areas of interest. During the past 20 years, there has been growing pressure on businesses to pay more attention to the environmental and resource consequences of the products and services they offer and the processes they deploy. One symptom of this pressure is the movement towards triple bottom line reporting (3BL) concerning the relationship of profit, people, and the planet. The resulting challenges include integrating environmental, health, and safety concerns with green-product design, lean and green operations, and closed-loop supply chains. We review these and other “sustainability” themes covered in the first 50 issues of Production and Operations Management and conclude with some thoughts on future research challenges in sustainable operations management.

Decision Sciences: An Integrative Perspective

Abstract: Preface Part I: Introduction 1 The scope of decision sciences 2 Problem finding and alternative generation Part II: Individual Decision Making 3 Prediction and inference 4 Valuation and choice 5 Evaluating prescriptive approaches Part III: Multi-person Decision Making 6 Group decision making 7 Formal models of group decision making 8 Organisational decision making 9 Societal decision making Part IV: Epilogue References Appendices

Integrating Long- and Short-Term Contracting via Business-to-Business Exchanges for Capital-Intensive Industries

Abstract: This paper surveys the underlying theory and practice in the use of options in support of emerging business-to-business (B2B) markets. Such options, on both capacity and output, play an important role in integrating long- and short-term contracting between multiple buyers and sellers in such markets. This trend is especially important in capital-intensive industries, where improvements in fine tuning the coordination of supply and demand carry large economic benefits. Typically, such options are benchmarked (or defined) on the basis of spot market information conveyed through near real-time B2B transactions. This paper notes broad set of goods and services currently being traded in both B2B short-run markets and long-term contract markets, and reviews economic and managerial frameworks that have been proposed to explain the structure of contracting in these markets. We provide a general framework based on transactions cost economics, and we use this framework to provide review and synthesis of existing literature to explain various types of contracting linked to B2B exchanges in capital-intensive industries. The paper concludes with a discussion of implementation challenges and open research questions.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Strategic assets and organizational rent

Abstract: We build on an emerging strategy literature that views the firm as a bundle of resources and capabilities, and examine conditions that contribute to the realization of sustainable economic rents. Because of (1) resource-market imperfections and (2) discretionary managerial decisions about resource development and deployment, we expect firms to differ (in and out of equilibrium) in the resources and capabilities they control. This asymmetry in turn can be a source of sustainable economic rent. The paper focuses on the linkages between the industry analysis framework, the resource-based view of the firm, behavioral decision biases and organizational implementation issues. It connects the concept of Strategic Industry Factors at the market level with the notion of Strategic Assets at the firm level. Organizational rent is shown to stem from imperfect and discretionary decisions to develop and deploy selected resources and capabilities, made by boundedly rational managers facing high uncertainty, complexity, and intrafirm conflict.

Convergence of Probability Measures

Abstract: Convergence of Probability Measures. By P. Billingsley. Chichester, Sussex, Wiley, 1968. xii, 253 p. 9 1/4“. 117s.

Information distortion in a supply chain: the bullwhip effect

Abstract: (This article originally appeared in Management Science, April 1997, Volume 43, Number 4, pp. 546-558, published by The Institute of Management Sciences.) Consider a series of companies in a supply chain, each of whom orders from its immediate upstream member. In this setting, inbound orders from a downstream member serve as a valuable informational input to upstream production and inventory decisions. This paper claims that the information transferred in the form of "orders" tends to be distorted and can misguide upstream members in their inventory and production decisions. In particular, the variance of orders may be larger than that of sales, and distortion tends to increase as one moves upstream-a phenomenon termed "bullwhip effect." This paper analyzes four sources of the bullwhip effect: demand signal processing, rationing game, order batching, and price variations. Actions that can be taken to mitigate the detrimental impact of this distortion are also discussed.