From chaos to creation: The mutual causality between supply chain disruption and innovation in low-income markets - 29 May 2024

The House of Innovation hosted a research seminar with Professor Anand Nair from Northeastern University.

Starttid: 2024-05-29 at 12:00

Sluttid: 2024-05-29 at 13:30

Plats: On-site at the Stockholm School of Economics. Registration required.

Paper title and abstract

From chaos to creation: The mutual causality between supply chain disruption and innovation in low-income markets

Abstract: Low-income markets have unique constraints that trigger the co-evolution of innovation and disruption in such markets. When disruptions occur in global supply chains, and in particular, in low-income markets, they spur innovations that may be necessary to address both existing and potential future disruptions. However, such innovations in turn create disruptions to existing supply chains, and they may also create new supply chains. Therefore, in this paper, we theorize in support of the mutual causality between innovation and disruption in low-income markets. We focus on low-income markets’ contexts because of the unique opportunities and constraints that exist in these contexts, resulting in interesting dynamics between innovation and disruption. We identify the mechanisms through which the innovation-disruption mutual causality occurs, as well as boundary conditions for these mechanisms. This culminates in a theoretical framework surrounding the inter-relationship between disruption and innovation in low-income markets. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications and identify potential areas for future research.

About Anand Nair

Dr. Anand Nair is Professor & Jeff Bornstein Faculty Fellow in the Supply Chain & Information Management academic area at Northeastern University. Prior to this role, he served as the Eli Broad Endowed Professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. After completing his undergraduate degree in Engineering and MBA degree, he worked as a Manager for Systems Integration in India. Subsequently, Dr. Nair received his Ph.D. degree in Operations & Supply Chain Management from the Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University. After finishing his doctoral studies, Dr. Nair served on the faculties of Michigan State University, the University of South Carolina, and Auburn University before joining the Supply Chain & Information Management academic area at Northeastern University.

Dr. Nair has worked with organizations in manufacturing, healthcare, and retail sectors on issues such as inventory management, forecasting, pricing, capacity planning, lean systems, manufacturing planning and control, quality management, contracting, product development, process improvement and technology implementation. His research examines how firms, teams, and individuals learn, adapt, and organize to manage processes, supplies, technology, and innovation, and the associated performance implications. Dr. Nair's research articles have been published in leading operations and supply chain management journals. He was selected as the Fulbright-Aalto University Distinguished Chair in 2017-2018. As a part of his editorial responsibilities, most recently, he completed his six-year term as a Department Editor for the Journal of Operations Management. He is serving as an Associate Editor for Decision Sciences.

Dr. Nair teaches operations and supply chain management to MBA, Executive-MBA, undergraduate, and doctoral students. As a part of his teaching, he has incorporated simulation games, case studies, and company sponsored student projects. He is actively involved in mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Nair holds the Certified Fellow in Production and Inventory Management (CFPIM) designation from ASCM (The Association of Supply Chain Management) and has completed the deep learning specialization from Deeplearning.AI and Data Science Methodology certification from IBM. He is a member of the Board of the Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM) division of the Academy of Management. He is serving as the Program Chair for the OSCM division for the 2024 Academy of Management Annual Meeting. In the past, he has served as Decision Sciences Institute's Vice-President and Secretary as well as a member of its Board of Directors.

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