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The Operations & Technology Management subject group

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About the subject group

Organisations achieve reliable performance and competitive advantage through the design and management of intra- and inter-organisational projects, processes and routines. The Operations & Technology Management group studies the determinants of superior performance from the perspective of these activities. Focused on practice-based research through deep engagement with partner organisations, group members address a wide spectrum of management challenges and employ a diverse set of research methods, including theoretical, analytical, empirical, and behavioural models that draw from operations research, economics, psychology and sociology, as well as state-of-the-art data analytics techniques applied to large datasets.

The research of the group falls broadly into the following categories:

  • Innovation and new product development (Stelios Kavadias, Christoph Loch, Nektarios Oraiopoulos)
  • Healthcare operations (Feryal Erhun, Houyuan Jiang, Stefan Scholtes)
  • Operations strategy (Jane Davies, Stelios Kavadias, Christoph Loch, Nektarios Oraiopoulos)
  • Supply chain management and risk (Feryal Erhun, Benn Lawson, Daniel Ralph)
  • Behavioural decision-making and behaviour analytics (Christoph Loch, Kishore Sengupta, David Stillwell)

Group members have leading roles in the following research centres:

Faculty

  • Davies, Jane
    Management Practice Professor in Operations Management, Director of the Management Studies Tripos, Deputy Director of the Centre for Process Excellence & Innovation (CPEI)
  • Erhun, Feryal
    Professor of Operations & Technology Management, Head of the Operations & Technology Management Subject Group
  • Hutchison-Krupat, Jeremy
    Associate Professor in Innovation & Operations Management
  • Jiang, Houyuan
    Professor of Management Science
  • Kavadias, Stylianos (Stelios)
    Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation & Growth, Vice-Dean for Faculty, Co-Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre, Chair of the Subject Group Heads Committee
  • Lawson, Benn
    Associate Professor in Operations Management, Director of the Centre for Process Excellence & Innovation (CPEI)
  • Loch, Christoph H
    Professor of Operations and Technology Management
  • Oraiopoulos, Nektarios
    Professor of Operations & Technology Management
  • Ralph, Daniel
    Professor of Operations Research, Academic Director of the Centre for Risk Studies
  • Scholtes, Stefan
    Dennis Gillings Professor of Health Management, Academic Director of the Centre for Health Leadership & Enterprise (CCHLE)
  • Sengupta, Kishore
    Professor of Operations Management
  • Taneri, Niyazi
    Associate Professor in Operations & Technology Management

PhD students

Honorary appointments

Publishing output

Group members actively contribute to both academic and business communities. They have published in top-tier academic journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Mathematics of Operations Research, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, as well as top-tier management journals such as Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review. They currently serve or have served as associate editors at journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, Journal of Operations Management, and Production and Operations Management.

2022

Bobroske, K., Freeman, M., Huan, L., Cattrell, A. and Scholtes, S. (2022) “Curbing the opioid epidemic at its root: the effect of provider discordance after opioid initiation.” Management Science (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4252) (published online Jan 2022) (available online)

Drakeman, D.L., Drakeman, L.N. and Oraiopoulos, N. (2022) From breakthrough to blockbuster: the business of biotechnology. Oxford: Oxford University Press (forthcoming)

Ladas, K., Kavadias, S. and Loch, C. (2022) “Product selling versus pay-per-use service: a strategic analysis of competing business models.” Management Science (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4125) (published online Oct 2021)

2021

Betcheva, L., Erhun, F. and Jiang, H. (2021) “Healthcare supply chains.” In: Choi, T.Y., Li, J.J., Rogers, D.S., Schoenherr, T. and Wagner, S.M. (eds.) The Oxford handbook of supply chain management. New York: Oxford University Press (DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190066727.013.13)

Betcheva, L., Erhun, F. and Jiang, H. (2021) “Supply chain thinking in healthcare: lessons and outlooks.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 23(6): 1333-1353 (DOI: 10.1287/msom.2020.0920)

Dredge, C. and Scholtes, S. (2021) “The health care utility model: a novel approach to doing business.” New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst, 8 July 2021 (DOI: 10.1056/CAT.21.0189) (available online)

Feduzi, A., Faulkner, P., Runde, J., Cabantous, L. and Loch, C. (2021) “Heuristic methods for updating small world representations in strategic situations of Knightian uncertainty.” Academy of Management Review (DOI: 10.5465/amr.2018.0235) (published online Oct 2020)

Freeman, M., Robinson, S. and Scholtes, S. (2021) “Gatekeeping, fast and slow: an empirical study of referral errors in the emergency department.” Management Science, 67(7): 4209-4232 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2020.3711)

Freeman, M., Savva, N. and Scholtes, S. (2021) “Economies of scale and scope in hospitals: an empirical study of volume spillovers.” Management Science, 67(2): 673–697 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2019.3572)

Kavadias, S. and Hutchison-Krupat, J. (2021) “A framework for managing innovation.” In: Druehl, C. and Elmaghraby, W. (eds.) Pushing the boundaries: frontiers in impactful OR/OM research (INFORMS TutORials in Operations Research). Catonsville, MD: INFORMS, pp.202–228 (DOI: 10.1287/educ.2020.0219)

Loch, C., Kavadias, S. and Yang, B.C. (2021) “Making strategy execution work.” Management and Business Review, 1(1): 25-40

Soufani, K. and Loch, C. (2021) “Circular supply chains are more sustainable. Why are they so rare?” Harvard Business Review, 15 June 2021

Sridhar, K., Ralph, D. and Copic, J. (2021) “3 strategies to secure your digital supply chain.” Harvard Business School, 9 August 2021

Tang, Y., Jiang, H., Xie, J. and Zheng, Z. (2021) “A queueing model for customer rescheduling and no-shows in service systems.” Operations Research Letters, 49(6): 821-828 (DOI: 10.1016/j.orl.2021.09.002)

van der Schaar, M., Alaa, A.M., Floto, A., Gimson, A., Scholtes, S., Wood, A., McKinney, E., Jarrett, D., Lio, P. and Ercole, A. (2021) “How artificial intelligence and machine learning can help healthcare systems respond to COVID-19.” Machine Learning, 110(1): 1–14 (DOI: 10.1007/s10994-020-05928-x)

2020

Agrawal, V. and Oraiopoulos, N. (2020) “The role of decision rights in codevelopment initiatives.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 22(4): 645-867 (DOI: 10.1287/msom.2019.0775)

Ahmad, M.G. and Loch, C. (2020) “What do the followers want? The core functions of leadership.” Leadership Quarterly, 31(2): 101293 (DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.04.003)

Cousins, P., Dutordoir, M., Lawson, B. and Quariguasi Frota Neto, J. (2020) “Shareholder wealth effects of modern slavery regulation.” Management Science, 66(11): 4921-5484 (DOI: 10.17863/CAM.43261)

Drakeman, D.L. and Oraiopoulos, N. (2020) “The risk of de-risking innovation: optimal R&D strategies in ambiguous environments.” California Management Review, 62(3): 42-63 (DOI: 10.1177/0008125620915289)

Jiang, H., Pang, Z. and Savin, S. (2020) “Performance incentives and competition in healthcare markets.” Production and Operations Management, 29(5): 1145-1164 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.13163)

KC, D.S., Scholtes, S. and Terwiesch, C. (2020) “Empirical research in healthcare operations: past research, present understanding, and future opportunities.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 22(1): 73-83 (DOI: 10.1287/msom.2019.0826)

Lange, R.-J., Ralph, D. and Støre, K. (2020) “Real-option valuation in multiple dimensions using Poisson optional stopping times.” Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 55(2): 653-677 (DOI: 10.1017/S0022109019000048)

Oraiopoulos, N. and Kavadias, S. (2020) “Is diversity (un)biased? Project selection decisions in executive committees.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 22(5): 869-1106 (DOI: 10.1287/msom.2019.0782)

Tuveson, M., Ralph, D. and Alexander, K. (eds.) (2020) Beyond bad apples: risk culture in business. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tuveson, M. and Ralph, D. (2020) “A network view of tone at the top and the role of opinion leaders.” In: Tuveson, M., Ralph, D. and Alexander, K. (eds.) Beyond bad apples: risk culture in business. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.73-102 (DOI: 10.1017/9781316996959.004)

2019

Chae, S., Lawson, B., Kull, T.J. and Choi, T.Y. (2019) “To insource or outsource the sourcing? A behavioral investigation of the multi-tier sourcing decision.” International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 9(3): 385-405 (DOI: 10.1108/IJOPM-04-2018-0231)

Cousins, P., Lawson, B., Petersen, K. and Fugate, B. (2019) “Investigating green supply chain management practices and performance: the moderating roles of supply chain ecocentricity and traceability.” International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 39(5): 767-786 (DOI: 10.1108/IJOPM-11-2018-0676)

Han, L., Fine, J., Robinson, S.M., Boyle, A.A., Freeman, M. and Scholtes, S. (2019) “Is seniority of emergency physician associated with the weekend mortality effect? An exploratory analysis of electronic health records in the UK.” Emergency Medicine Journal, 36(12): 708-715 (DOI: 10.1136/emermed-2018-208114)

Holmström, J., Holweg, M., Lawson, B., Pil, F.K. and Wagner, S.M. (2019) “The digitalization of operations and supply chain management: theoretical and methodological implications.” Journal of Operations Management, 65(8): 728-734 (DOI: 10.1002/joom.1073)

Holweg, M., Lawson, B. and Pil, F.K. (2019) “How digital fulfillment is changing manufacturing.” Harvard Business Review, 15 March 2019

Jiang, H. and Sodhi, M.S. (2019) “Analyzing the proposed reconfiguration of accident-and-emergency facilities in England.” Production and Operations Management, 28(7): 1837-1857 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.13020)

Kattuman, P., Loch, C. and Kurchian, C. (2019) “Management succession and success in a professional soccer team.” PLoS ONE, 14(3): e0212634 (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212634)

Kuntz, L., Scholtes, S. and Sulz, S. (2019) “Separate and concentrate: accounting for patient complexity in general hospitals.” Management Science, 65(6): 2482-2501 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2018.3064)

Loch, C. and Sommer, S. (2019) “The tension between flexible goals and managerial control in exploratory projects.” Project Management Journal, 50(5): 524-537 (DOI: 10.1177/8756972819870062)

Lawson, B., Potter, A., Pil, F. and Holweg, M. (2019) “Supply chain disruptions: the influence of industry and geography on firm reaction speed.” International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 39(9/10): 1076-1098 (DOI: 10.1108/IJOPM-04-2018-0225)

Neuberger, A., Oraiopoulos, N. and Drakeman, D.L. (2019) “Renovation as innovation: is repurposing the future of drug discovery research?” Drug Discovery Today, 24(1): 1-3 (DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2018.06.012)

Oughton, E., Ralph, D., Pant, R., Leverett, E., Copic, J., Thacker, S., Dada, R., Ruffle, S., Tuveson, M. and Hall, J.W. (2019) “Stochastic counterfactual risk analysis for the vulnerability assessment of cyber-physical attacks on electricity distribution infrastructure networks.” Risk Analysis, 39(9): 2012-2031 (DOI: 10.1111/risa.13291)

Zhao, Y.-B., Jiang, H. and Luo, Z.-Q. (2019) “Weak stability of ℓ1-minimization methods in sparse data reconstruction.” Mathematics of Operations Research, 44(1): 173-195 (DOI: 10.1287/moor.2017.0919)

2018

Feduzi, A., Runde, J., Cabantous, L., Faulkner, P. and Loch, C. (2018) “Updating ‘small world representations’ in strategic decision-making under extreme uncertainty.” Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018(1) (DOI: 10.5465/AMBPP.2018.141)

Holweg, M., Davies, J., De Meyer, A., Lawson, B. and Schmenner, R. (2018) Process theory: the principles of operations management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hutchison-Krupat, J. (2018) “Communication, incentives, and the execution of a strategic initiative.” Management Science, 64(7): 3380-3399 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2758)

Hutchison-Krupat, J. and Kavadias, S. (2018) “Organizational enablers for NPD portfolio selection.” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 65(1): 59-71 (DOI: 10.1109/TEM.2017.2739647)

Lawson, B., Pil, F. and Holweg, M. (2018) “Multi-modal order fulfilment: concept and application.” Production and Operations Management, 27(2): 269-284 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12801)

Loch, C., Mähring, M. and Sommer, S. (2018) “Supervising projects you don’t (fully) understand lessons for effective project governance by steering committees.” California Management Review, 59(2): 45-67 (DOI: 10.1177/0008125617697944)

Parpas, P., Ralph, D. and Wiesemann, W. (eds.) (2018) “Special issue on optimization models and algorithms for data science.” Mathematical Programming, 167(1) (DOI: 10.1007/s10107-017-1217-5)

van Oorschot, K.E., Sengupta, K. and Van Wassenhove, L.N. (2018) “Under pressure: the effects of iteration lengths on agile software development performance.” Project Management Journal, 49(6): 78-102 (DOI: 10.1177/8756972818802714)

2017

Freeman, M., Savva, N. and Scholtes, S. (2017) “Gatekeepers at work: an empirical analysis of a maternity unit.” Management Science, 63(10): 3147-3167 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2016.2512)

Loch, C.H. (2017) “Creativity and risk taking aren’t rational: behavioral operations in MOT.” Production and Operations Management, 26(4): 591–604 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12666)

Loch, C.H. (2017) “Has megaproject management lost its way? Lessons from history.” In Flyvbjerg, B. (ed.) The Oxford handbook of megaproject management. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.21-38

Kornish, L.J. and Hutchison-Krupat, J. (2017) “Research on idea generation and selection: implications for management of technology.” Production and Operations Management, 26(4): 633-651 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12664)

Krause, D., Luzzini, D. and Lawson, B. (2017) “Building the case for a single key informant in supply chain management survey research.” Journal of Supply Chain Management, 54(1): 42-50 (DOI: doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12159)

Neuberger, A., Oraiopoulos, N. and Drakeman, D.L. (2017) “Lemons, or squeezed for resources? Information symmetry and asymmetric resources in biotechnology.” Frontiers in Pharmacology, 8: 338 (DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00338)

Newnham, M., Bunclark, K., Abraham, N., Almeida, L.A., Cannon, J., Clare, S., Doughty, N., Dunning, J., Ng, C., Ponnaberanam, A., Scholtes, S., Sheares, K., Speed, N., Taboada, D., Toshner, M., Tsui ,S., Jenkins, D. and Pepke-Zaba, J. (2017) “Camphor score: sustained improvement in patient reported outcomes following pulmonary endarterectomy in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.” Thorax, 72: 0-0 (DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2017-210983.56)

Oraiopoulos, N. and Dunlop, W.C.N. (2017) “When science is not enough: a framework towards more customer-focused drug development.” Advances in Therapy, 34(7): 1572–1583 (DOI: 10.1007/s12325-017-0567-y)

Industry engagement

Members of the Operations and Technology Management Group engage frequently with organisations in the business and public sectors and their research agenda is stimulated by regular contacts with senior personnel of regional, national and international organisations such as Bank of China, British Airways, BP, Ernst & Young, Ofgem, Defra, Shell, UK Department for Transport, NICE and Cambridge University Hospitals.

Recent and current engagement projects undertaken by members of the group include:

  • Professor Stefan Scholtes, Professor Feryal Erhun, Dr Houyuan Jiang, together with colleague Dr Paul Kattuman and PhD students Lidia Betcheva, Tom Pape and Antoine Feylesouffi, started a research collaboration with Addenbrookes Hospital and the East of England Region to support the local NHS response to the COVID-19 emergency. Their work has served a population of seven million people in the East of England, supporting key timely decisions in terms of hospital and ICU beds, lockdown easing measures and hospital activities.
  • Professor Stelios Kavadias completed his sabbatical at AstraZeneca in 2019, where he helped the R&D portfolio & project management executives in exploring ways by which AstraZeneca could increase their R&D productivity. His effort led to the creation of a standardised template with sets of questions that help project teams to check that they are not being overly risk adverse and that they are considering the implications of their decisions and phase plans on drugs’ approval time.
  • Professor Danny Ralph has been supporting several businesses through the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies (CCRS) that he directs. The Centre has established itself at the forefront of research into cyber risk insurance products and cyber risk management internationally. Their work has been used widely by a number of organisations including Risk Management Solutions (RMS), Pool Re, and Lloyd’s of London.
  • Dr Benn Lawson worked with a global automotive producer to understand the profitability implications of building vehicles to customer order versus building to stock. He is also working with a sustainability-focused NGO to assess the effects of worker empowerment interventions in supplier factories.
  • Dr Aris Oraiopoulos has consulted with companies in the pharmaceutical industry on strategies for drug development.
  • Dr Kishore Sengupta has served as advisor on several projects with the US Government Department of Defense and NASA, and has consulted with organisations in Silicon Valley and Hong Kong. He has also worked at the AT&T Network Software Center (now Lucent Technologies) and Ernst & Young.

Upcoming seminars

Easter Term 2023

Using process data to detect lies in supply chain e-business
Yingshuai Zhao, Assistant Professor, University of Cologne
11:30-13:30, 24 April 2023
Room W4.03, Cambridge Judge Business School

Algorithm, human, or the centaur: How to enhance clinical care?
Professor Agni Orfanoudaki, Saïd Business School of Oxford University
13:00-14:30, 25 May 2023
Castle Teaching Room, Cambridge Judge Business School

Bayesian demand learning and revenue management under limited capacity
Mihalis Markakis, Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Technology, IESE Business School
12:30-14:00, 7 June 2023
Room W2.01, Cambridge Judge Business School

Previous seminars

Lent Term 2023

Choice, fashion, and the environment
Aydın Alptekinoğlu, Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management and Robert G. Schwartz University Endowed Fellow in Business Administration, Penn State’s Smeal College of Business
12:30-14:00, 6 March 2023
Room W4.03, Cambridge Judge Business School

Information design of a delegated search
Shouqiang Wang, Associate Professor of Operations Management, Naveen Jindal School of Management, the University of Texas at Dallas
12:30-14:00, 14 March 2023
Castle Teaching Room, Cambridge Judge Business School

Purposeful design for AI-augmented healthcare: Harnessing physician-in-the-loop systems to improve the patient journey
Professor Tinglong Dai, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
14:30-16:00, 16 March 2023
Room W2.02, Cambridge Judge Business School

Personalising interventions in behavioural health
Professor Jónas Oddur Jónasson, MIT Sloan School of Management
11:45-14:00, 22 March 2023
Room W4.03, Cambridge Judge Business School

Stochastic capacity investment in the presence of production resources
Onur Boyabatli, Associate Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University
12:30-14:00, 28 March 2023
Castle Teaching Room, Cambridge Judge Business School

The effect of voting structure on new product evaluation decisions: Advisory committees at the FDA
Panos Markou, Assistant Professor, UVA Darden School of Business
12:30-14:00, 30 March 2023
Room W4.05, Cambridge Judge Business School

Lent Term 2020

GAMA: Quantum and Quantum-inspired Algorithms
Professor Sridhar Tayur, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
12:30-14:00, 9 January 2020
Lecture Theatre 4, Cambridge Judge Business School

Hospitalisation Vs Home Care: Treating Haematology Patients Under Scarce Capacity
Dr Galit Yom-Tov, Industrial Engineering and Management Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (IE&M)
12:30-14:00, 11 February 2020
Room 217 (Keynes House), Cambridge Judge Business School

Michaelmas Term 2019

How Does Multichannel Quality Information Affect Consumer Choice of Services? Social Media Vs. Government Report Cards
Dr Susan Feng Lu, Krannert School of Management, Purdue University
12:30-14:00, 15 November 2019
Room 217 (Keynes House), Cambridge Judge Business School

Supply Chain Competition: A Market Game Approach
Dr Gizem Korpeoglu, Bilkent University
14:00-15:30, 29 November 2019
Room 217 (Keynes House), Cambridge Judge Business School

Easter Term 2019

Data Driven Healthcare, Big And Small
Dr Z. Justin Ren, Boston University Questrom School of Business
12:30-14:00, 19 July 2019
Room KH217, Cambridge Judge Business School

Pride and Prejudice: the Human Side of Interventional Cardiology
Dr Tinglong Dai, Johns Hopkins University
12:30-14:00, 30 August 2019
Room KH217, Cambridge Judge Business School

Lent Term 2019

Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program does not Provide the Right Incentives: Issues and Remedies
Professor Tolga Tezcan, London Business School
12:30-14:00, 1 March 2019
Room 217 (Keynes House), Cambridge Judge Business School

Predicting Surgery Duration: Physician Input, Statistical Models, and Combined Models
Professor Song-Hee Kim, Usc Marshall School of Business
13:30-14:30, 15 March 2019
Room 217 (Keynes House), Cambridge Judge Business School

Examining Health Workforce Perceptions of Organisational Expectations in Disasters: Leadership Considerations
Dr Daniel Barnett, Bloomberg School of Public Health
12:30-13:30, 15 March 2019
Room 217 (Keynes House), Cambridge Judge Business School

Michaelmas Term 2018

Establishing Trust and Trustworthiness in Global Businesses
Professor Özalp Özer, Jindal School of Management
12:00-14:00, 9 October 2018
Room W2.01, Cambridge Judge Business School

Easter Term 2018

Unintended Consequences of Hospital Regulation: The Case of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP)
Dr Nicos Savva, London Business School
12:30-14:00, 18 May 2018
Room W4.03, Cambridge Judge Business School

The Effect of Flexibility in Delegating Innovation
Dr Morvarid Rahmani, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech
12:30-14:00, 22 May 2018
Room W2.02, Cambridge Judge Business School

CANCELLED: Prioritising Access to Hepatitis C Treatment in Correctional Health Facilities
Dr Turgay Ayer, H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering
12:30-14:00, 25 May 2018
Room W4.03, Cambridge Judge Business School

Lent Term 2018

Supply Chain Management through Cascading
Dr Feryal Erhun, Cambridge Judge Business School
12:30-14:00, 9 January 2018
Room W2.01, Cambridge Judge Business School

A Large-Scale Optimisation Model for Replicating Portfolios in the Life Insurance Industry
Professor Karl Schmedders, University of Zurich
13:00-14:00, 16 January 2018
Room W2.02, Cambridge Judge Business School

Project Selection and Investment Carryovers in the Drug Development Process
Panos Markou, Cambridge Judge Business School
12:00-14:00, 12 March 2018
Castle Teaching Room, Cambridge Judge Business School

Warning Against Recurring Risks: An Information Design Approach
Professor Francis de Véricourt, European School of Management and Technology
12:30-14:00, 20 March 2018
Room W2.01, Cambridge Judge Business School

Proactive Customer Service: Operational and Economic Analysis
Dr Tolga Tezcan, London Business School
12:30-14:00, 23 March 2018
Room W4.03, Cambridge Judge Business School

Contact us

Get in touch with the subject group via our Administrator, Emily Brown:

[email protected]

Seminars