ZLC Seminar Series: Dr. Thomas Choi, Arizona State University

"Triads in Supply Networks"

Abstract
A network is made up of nodes and links. The smallest unit that contains both of these network elements is a dyad made up of two nodes and a link (e.g., buyer-supplier relationship). Naturally, the focus of the supply chain management literature has been on this dyad. However, I argue that a dyad is not the smallest unit of a network. In fact, the smallest unit is a triad, made up of three nodes and the links that connect them, either two or three. The discussion will build the case for why triads are so important and then offer several research examples that necessitate triadic considerations.

Bio

Thomas Y. Choi is Professor of Supply Chain Management and Bob Herberger Arizona Heritage Chair at Arizona State University. He directs the Center for Supply Networks (http://wpcarey.asu.edu/casn/index.cfm) and serves as co-Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Operations Management (http://wpcarey.asu.edu/jom/). He has been recognized as the 2012 Distinguished OM Scholar from the OM Division in the Academy of Management. His research interests reside in the upstream supply chains where a buying company interfaces many suppliers organized in various forms of networks. His articles have been published in the Academy of Management Executive, Decision Sciences, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management and others. He has co-authored two trade books on purchasing and supply management, both for the Institute for Supply Management. He has consulted with or conducted executive workshops for Accenture, Avnet, Caterpillar, Chrysler, Honda, Honeywell, Intel, LG Electronics, Motorola, Samsung, SAP, Toyota, Volvo, and others. He is presently consulting with the US Department of Energy and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.