Seventy scholars representing nearly 40 different institutions from around the world gathered for the sixth annual Early-Career Sustainable Operations Workshop from February 21-23, 2020. The event brought together scholars and industry speakers for presentations covering a broad range of sustainability topics, including agricultural industry supply chains, energy, and social responsibility. Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business served as this year’s host institution, with support from the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business (“Center”) at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, one of the event’s founding sponsors.
The annual workshop, first initiated by Center-affiliated faculty member Atalay Atasu and Center Faculty Director Beril Toktay, provides the opportunity for a high-level exchange of ideas between early-career scholars, senior academics, and practitioners who can help scholars ground their research in practice. Papers by untenured faculty and Ph.D. students are circulated and critiqued, with senior-level faculty serving as facilitators.
Toktay remarked, “It is vital for early-career scholars—both faculty and Ph.D. students—to receive constructive feedback on their research. This conference offers a supportive environment in which scholars provide one another with valuable insights that can help them take their work to the next level. Our Center takes pride in contributing to the development of high-impact research in sustainable operations.”
Two teams received the People’s Choice Award: Pia Ramchandani for the presentation of her paper, “Why do companies source ethically? Certifications and spillovers in consumer markets,” which is a joint work with Hamsa Bastani and Ken Moon; and Somya Singhvi for the presentation of his paper, “Unifying agricultural wholesale markets: Impact on market prices and farmer’s profitability,” which is a joint work with Retsef Levi, Manoj Rajan, and Yanchong (Karen) Zheng.
By Jennifer Holley Lux