Integrated Optimization of Procurement, Processing and Trade of Commodities in a Network Environment

We consider the integrated optimization problem of procurement, processing and trade of commodities over a network in a multiperiod setting. Motivated by the operations of a prominent commodity processing firm, we model a firm that operates a star network with multiple locations at which it can procure an input commodity and has processing capacity at a central location to convert the input into a processed commodity. The processed commodity is sold using forward contracts, while the input itself can be traded at the end of the horizon. We show that the single-node version of this problem can be solved optimally when the procurement cost for the input is piecewise linear and convex, and derive closed form expressions for the marginal value of input and output inventory. However, these marginal values are hard to compute because of high dimensionality of the state space and we develop an efficient heuristic to compute approximate marginal values. We also show that the star network problem can be approximated as an equivalent single node problem and propose heuristics for solving the network problem. We conduct numerical studies to evaluate the performance of both the single node and network heuristics. We find that the single node heuristics are near-optimal, capturing close to 90% of the value of an upper bound on the optimal expected profits. Approximating the star network by a single node is effective, with the gap between the heuristic and upper bound ranging from 7% to 14% for longer planning horizonshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55417/1/1095-Anupindi.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55417/4/1095-Anupindi_2010.pd

Rural institutions, social networks, and self-organized adaptation to climate change

Support for rural livelihoods to adapt to climate change is a top policy priority around the world. We advance the concept of "self-organized adaptation" to analyze how long-term pathways of transformation come about as the organic outcome of farmers' incremental and continuous responses to climate and other challenges. Through an analysis of four decades' responses to changing climate conditions in an agricultural system of the Indian Himalayas, we show how several key policy interventions – institutional support for the dissemination of agricultural knowledge, investments in infrastructure, and strengthening of market linkages – have produced favorable conditions for successful, long-term self-organized adaptation to climate change. This has led to the transformation of an agricultural system specialized in apple production to one with a great diversity of fruit, vegetable, and food grain crops. We find that farmers growing these crops cluster into five distinct agricultural portfolios that reflect the constraints and opportunities that different farmers face, and which are patterned by interaction with rural institutions and household social networks. We highlight the role of distributed decision-making in shaping broader trajectories of systemic transformation, and we argue for the need to move beyond pre-defined climate interventions toward the identification of policy mechanisms that can support more effective self-organization over the long-term

Supply-chain research opportunities with the poor as suppliers or distributors in developing countries

Many social enterprises and some companies have developed supply chains with the poor as suppliers or distributors to alleviate poverty and to create revenues for themselves. Such supply chains have created new research opportunities because they raise issues fundamentally different from those examined in the existing operations management literature. We report this phenomenon of supply chains with the poor as suppliers or distributors in developing countries and identify operations management (OM) research opportunities. We also provide some stylized models to serve as potential seeds for modeling-based research in this area

Conceptualizing Social Responsibility in Operations via Stakeholder Resource-Based View

We seek to conceptualize social responsibility for operations management (OM) research to develop a social responsibility lens through which to view operations. To do so, we first consider the corporate social responsibility, sustainability, as well as the bottom-ofthe-pyramid and shared value approaches and identify three challenges to developing such a lens: selecting the level of analysis, tackling the huge multitude of objectives, and developing theoretical underpinnings. We then propose a ‘stakeholder resource-based view’ (SRBV) building on resource-based view, stakeholder theory, and utility theory to address these challenges. Under SRBV, all stakeholders are treated on a par with each other. These different stakeholders are all presumed to seek maximizing their respective (expected) utility, with different drivers shaping their preferences and do so they use their respective resources, routines and dynamic capabilities. SRBV provides (a) a descriptive framework for qualitative research, (b) an instrumental framework for empirical research, and (c) a normative framework for analytical research. It enables tackling many opportunities for OM research to do with social responsibility and we outline some of these in each of the three types of research methodologies

“People Don\u27t Even Know to Test for It”: Fragile X Community Views on Fragile X Testing, Guidelines, and Impacts

This study explored the view’s of the Fragile X (FX) community on including FX testing in carrier screening, how testing impacts their community, and what factors they feel should be considered when creating FX testing guidelines. The anonymous online survey was distributed through FX organizations and social media. 30 participant responses met inclusion criteria for data analysis. Over 80% of participants self-identified as premutation carriers for Fragile X syndrome (FXS). Most participants reported that they would have preferred learning their FX status through routine care before or during pregnancy. FX testing was not offered to all participants before or during pregnancy. Of those who were offered testing, 87% opted to pursue it. When asked why this information was important to them, responses generated four key themes: 1) Reproductive selection, 2) Against reproductive selection, 3) Information to improve outcomes for children, and 4) Information to improve outcomes for carriers. When asked what they feel is important for medical professionals to consider when creating guidelines for FX testing, participants’ responses generated three key themes: 1) Need for education amongst medical professionals, 2) Timing of diagnosis, and 3) Financial burden. In contrast with current ACOG guidelines, we found widespread desire for FX testing as part of routine carrier screening. Additionally, our data suggests the FX community feels healthcare providers are not sufficiently knowledgeable about FX. Results of this study suggest the importance of involving the FX community in decisions surrounding FX testing with the hope of improving outcomes for those affected by FXS and Fragile X premutation associated conditions (FXPAC)