Supply Chain and Operations Management
Chair ofSupply Chain and Operations Management
"We live in a world where we constantly consume products and services that were created to meet our needs in terms of quality, availability, and cost. By the time they reach us, most of these offerings have undergone multifaceted transformation processes in which they were often sent around the globe multiple times through a complicated and complex web of organizations."
Today, new transportation and information processing technologies may make this network even more complex, increasing connectedness and heightened network vulnerability, making the need for more sustainable management and richer inter-company communications even clearer. The Chair of Supply Chain and Operations Management at ESCP is engaged in research, teaching, and training students to manage these complex processes. In our research, we focus on the management of risks and complexity, intercultural supplier relationships, social/ethical issues, and the larger implications of new digital technologies. The Chair emphasizes a close exchange with industrial partners both in its research and teaching to ensure a strong match between the theoretical solutions and relevant practical insights regarding today’s complex global industrial ecosystem.
- Prof. Dr. Christian F. Durach
The team
Teaching
We offer the following courses:
Bachelor in
Management (BSc)
- Operations Management & Business Information Systems
Master in
Management
- Operations Management
- Supply Chain Management
- Research Methods
Research
Research approach
We conduct empirical research alongside internationally renowned supply chain and operations scholars to expand our knowledge and provide new insights to both theory and practice. Our research has been published in both the leading international academic journals and more practice-oriented publications. Both our research and our service have received “outstanding” awards from some of these highly competitive outlets.
Research topics
Supply Chain Management
Globalization has not just led to the growth of complex operational networks but the need for additional coordination. Besides looking for ways in which such operational streams (loops) can become more resilient to supply chain disruptions and other risks, we analyse the impact that national cultures have on the operations of plants and networks.
Research methods
Supply chain management is still a nascent discipline. Many of the extant research methodologies need to be adjusted to meet the discipline’s idiosyncrasies. We are focused on the development of new ways to adapt current methodological standards to meet the curent needs of global supply chain managers.
Social sustainability
Recent years have shown a growing public concern about ethical corporate conduct. The public now demands that firms no longer pursue economic goals exclusively but consider environmental and social implications as well. At our Chair, we are trying to find ways to promote sustainability that can be embedded in the enterprise while taking a special interest in the social issues related to current practices in operations and supply chain management.
Digitalisation
The digital age does not just affect social interactions in our society, but how products and services are designed and produced. Digital technologies are creating new kinds of service-product interactions, new changes in production methods, and more proximity of the customer to the product/service, all of which may have a ripple effect on the entire supply chain. In this vast area, we are particularly interested in how supply chains are reshaped by some of these technologies and in how users in production networks accept and adapt to these new patterns.
Publications
Find an overview
Academic Articles
2024
’Hello, this is your AI co-pilot’ – Operational Implications of Artificial Intelligence Chatbots
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION AND LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, 54(3), 229-246
Academic Articles
2024
Mitigating upstream disruptions: Effects of extended inventories in first- and second-tier suppliers
JOURNAL OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Academic Articles
2023
Patterns in firms' inventories and flexibility levels after a low-probability, high-impact disruption event: Empirical evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake
PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, 32 (6), 1705-1723
Academic Articles
2023
The Effect of Temporary Workers and Works Councils on Process Innovation
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OPERATIONS AND PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, 43 (5), 781-801
Academic Articles
2023
Taking a different view: Theorizing on firms’ development toward an integrative view on socially sustainable supply chain management
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION AND LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, 53 (1), 13-34
Academic Articles
2023
Turning German automotive supply chains into sponsors for sustainability
PRODUCTION PLANNING AND CONTROL, 34 (2), 159-172
Academic Articles
2023
Cracking the code: Effects of codes of conduct and decision frames on supplier selection in financially distressed firms
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OPERATIONS AND PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, 44(2), 462-482
Academic Articles
2022
Towards an adapted understanding of the development of operational capabilities
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OPERATIONS AND PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
Academic Articles
2022
Selecting resilient suppliers: Supplier complexity and buyer disruption
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION ECONOMICS, 253
Academic Articles
2021
Blockchain Applications in Supply Chain Transactions
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS LOGISTICS, 42 (1), 7-24
Team and contact
