A Distinguished lecture entitled Productivity, Supply Chains, and the Structure of Firms was held by CityU on the main campus on the afternoon of 11th December. The event was opened by Professor Arthur ELLIS, Acting President, and delivered by Prof. John R. BIRGE, Jerry W. and Carol Lee Levin Professor of Operations Management, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
In his address, Prof. BIRGE proposed that current success in the global economy critically depended on the performance of complex supply chains interconnecting firms across various industries, regions and cultures. He then explained how supply chains enabled firms to share risk and increase efficiency. Different models can be used to assess the relative value of the various suppliers and customers that may contribute to a firm’s success. He also highlighted the difficulties in understanding the productivity of these networks and described models which explain the networks’ function and performance.
The lecture attracted academic faculty from various Colleges and Departments who participated in discussions after the presentation.
For the speaker’s biography: http://www.cityu.edu.hk/vprt/events/cityu/bibliography/birge.html
CityU NewsCentre: http://wikisites.cityu.edu.hk/sites/newscentre/en/Pages/201312121400.aspx