Lucy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Analytics & Operations at NUS Business School, where she currently teaches modules in operations/supply chain management and business analytics. Her research focuses mainly on inventory management, supply chain management, and the interface between operations and marketing. Dr Chen completed her Masters of Science and PhD in Operations Management at Johnson School of Management at Cornell University.
Having been at NUS Business School since 2007, Lucy has had the opportunity to guide students towards fulfilling careers in analytics and supply chain management. BIZBEAT speaks with Lucy about her life in Singapore and her passion for education.
Q: What is it about Operations Management that you find fascinating?
Operations to a company is like an engine to a vehicle. Without the engine, the vehicle is not going anywhere, making it a fascinating area to research.
I picked operations management for my PhD at Cornell because it felt like a natural extension of my undergraduate studies in management information systems. When my classmates and I were training to become system engineers, we needed knowledge of all the different parts of an organisation.
Frankly speaking, one of the big motivations for me was a desire to broaden my horizons after my university days at Tsinghua, and experience something outside my home country. I was not quite sure what research was about during my first year of PhD study. But gradually, I started to enjoy research work, particularly how you decide the problems you want to work on and then seek answers to your questions. That aspect of fact-finding and discovery is, for me, the best part of doing research.
Q: What is your research focus?
My research focuses on supply chain management. More recently, I have been interested in the behaviour of companies with respect to meeting quarterly targets.
An announcement that a company has missed profit or sales targets can often have a significant impact on its share price. My recent research aims to help companies meet these targets by providing guidelines on how they can fine-tune their operations. I also seek to understand how companies’ target-driven preferences impact supply chain performance.
One of my recent works, The Impact of a Target on Newsvendor Decisions, prescribes inventory decisions that help companies best attain given profit targets. In another work, Supply Chain Performance with Target-Oriented Firms, we find that while being target-oriented can improve a firm’s supply chain performance, the benefits of these improvements may go to trading partners rather than the firm itself. Hence we often caution companies about engaging in overly target-driven behaviour.
Q: Why NUS?
When I received my PhD, I wanted to start my professorship in Asia to be closer to my parents. I am an only child, and back in Cornell, it was a challenge for them to visit because they could only stay for a short period. Singapore is a much better fit for them culturally and we could quickly adapt to life here. In addition, NUS’ focus on research and teaching attracted me and the support provided to help faculty members grow and build their careers keeps me motivated to stay.
Q: Please tell us more about your teaching at NUS?
I believe that teaching is just as important as research. As a researcher you are discovering new knowledge, but as an educator you are nurturing the next generation.
I always tell my students that analytics and operations management are essential fields in today’s data-driven world. The possibilities are endless. Many students think that one has to major in finance in order to work in a bank. So I try to change their perceptions by showing them job listings by major banks looking specifically for analytics roles, like Vice-President in Consumer Analytics.
For my Operations/Supply Chain Management students, I would tell them that they can work in consulting, conglomerates like P&G, third-party logistics players like DHL and FedEx. I often show students the Gartner top 25 supply chain companies to give them an idea of potential employers and places where they can grow their careers.
Students may not be able to fully grasp how transferable their skills are, and I think part of our role is to show them examples so they can see more of the possibilities that lie ahead of them.
Q: How do you engage your students?
Some students find analytics tough because they have to construct a mathematical model, collect data, test and adjust for accuracy. The ones who find it difficult usually do not have a technical foundation. I encourage my students to be patient during mathematical modelling. In a way, it is like finding solutions, something they will experience daily during their working life.
It does not help when you just talk about concepts so I like to incorporate role-playing games like beer distribution and supply chain competitions. In the games, students play the role of various stakeholders such as retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers in the supply network. The game simulates how the different entities can work as a team and compete against other teams.
Games create a fun element for studies. The students enjoy themselves, and these activities help the learning process because they can see the consequences of their strategies and how they affect the company’s competitiveness against rival firms.
I also encourage my students to ask questions in class, as this is the best time to resolve any questions. However, many students feel shy, so I always tell them that there is no such thing as a silly question and that my door is always open after class for anyone who needs help.
There is always room to do better and I value the feedback and suggestions from all my students. I thoroughly review all feedback at the end of every semester, to see what I can improve on, like taking more time to elaborate on quantitative topics. Instead of just earning credits, I would rather my students take away something useful that they can apply in their lives or careers.