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Inquiry on Sustainable Operations

Description

We aim to study the means by which organizations can achieve sustainability (in the broad sense: ecological, economic, social) by studying the characteristics of and the means by which organizational operations can be made sustainable. Accordingly, we will focus our research on two broad and comprehensive aspects of operations processes: (1) the decision chain, which involves the setting of organizational objectives and the detailed design of processes and their management, with particular attention to the product life-cycle design, and process strategy and design, and (2) the supply chain: which maps the in- and out-flow of goods, funds, data, information, and resources (human and material) from their separate origins to their ultimate destinations, and accounts for every effect at each step of the way.

Investigation into the attributes and effects of alternative forms of these factors of operations on the fulfillment of an organization’s objectives and on the external economic, social, and natural environments necessarily requires knowledge and assessment from virtually every field of inquiry. It is thus a certainty that research in the sustainability of operations will include deep and ample perspectives from many disciplines, and, conversely, that research in fields such as economics, engineering, the natural and social sciences, and agriculture will of necessity have to be framed within the concept of sustainability and sustainable organizations. 

Leadership
The primary contact for this group is Rodrigo J. Lievano (UMD Finance and Management Information Sciences).  Additional members of the leadership team include Emmanuel U. Enemuoh (UMD Mechanical/Industrial Engineering).

Membership

Please direct questions about the new interdisciplinary graduate groups to Vicki Field, Director of The Graduate School’s Office of Interdisciplinary Initiatives, field001@umn.edu or 612-625-6532.