Rob Handfield
· Executive Director of Supply Chain Resource Cooperative and Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Operations and Supply Chain ManagementNorth Carolina State University · IT, Analytics and Operations (ITAO)
Active 1992–2026
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About
Rob Handfield is the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University and serves as the Executive Director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative. His research focuses on supply chain management, including areas such as COVID-19 supply chains, vaccine supply chains, and global sourcing. Handfield is the Editor-in-Chief of the online Logistics journal and the Consulting Editor of the Journal of Operations Management, a leading publication in the field. He has authored several books on supply chain management, including 'FLOW: How the Best Supply Chains Thrive' (2022), 'Supply Chain Immunity' (2023), 'The LIVING Supply Chain: The Evolving Imperative of Operating in Real Time' (2017), and 'Introduction to Supply Chain Management' (1999). His work extends to understanding how to restructure public health response systems, supported by grants exceeding $10 million, including projects related to bio-based products, ethical apparel indices, and supply chain resilience. Handfield's contributions include both academic research and practical applications aimed at improving supply chain efficiency, resilience, and sustainability.
Research topics
- Business
- Computer Science
- Marketing
- Political Science
- Economics
- Industrial organization
- Computer Security
- Finance
- Engineering
- Economic growth
Selected publications
Corona virus, tariffs, trade wars and supply chain evolutionary design
International Journal of Operations & Production Management · 2020 · 336 citations
1st authorCorrespondingPurpose Using the constructal law of physics this study aims to provide guidance to future scholarship on global supply chain management. Further, through two case studies the authors are developing, the authors report interview findings with two senior VPs from two multi-national corporations being disrupted by COVID-19. This study suggests how this and recent events will impact on the design of future global supply chains. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply the constructal law to ex…
International Journal of Operations & Production Management · 2022 · 172 citations
Purpose Why do managers redesign global supply chains in a particular manner when faced with compounding geopolitical disruptions? In answering this research question, this study identifies a constrained system of reasoning (decision-making logic) employed by managers when they redesign their supply chains in situations of heightened uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted 40 elite interviews with senior supply chain executives in 28 companies across nine industries from N…
Milbank Quarterly · 2020 · 90 citations
1st authorCorrespondingPolicy Points Reflecting on current response deficiencies, we offer a model for a national contingency supply chain cell (NCSCC) construct to manage the medical materials supply chain in support of emergencies, such as COVID-19. We develop the following: a framework for governance and response to enable a globally independent supply chain; a flexible structure to accommodate the requirements of state and county health systems for receiving and distributing materials; and a national material "con…
Decision Sciences · 2023-10-28 · 47 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract The benefits of additive manufacturing (AM) extend beyond the attributes of physical products and production processes they enable. Experience with AM can augment the way design is approached and can increase opportunities to pivot toward less familiar design tasks. We begin this qualitative study with a natural experiment made possible by an exogenous shock: the COVID‐19 pandemic. Through a three‐stage case study approach using a grounded theory‐building method, we contrast AM usage am…
Journal of Cleaner Production · 2021 · 47 citations
Frequent coauthors
- 23 shared
Kenneth J. Petersen
University of Oklahoma
- 18 shared
Daniel J. Finkenstadt
- 17 shared
Gary L. Ragatz
Michigan State University
- 15 shared
Amirreza Sahebi-Fakhrabad
North Carolina State University
- 14 shared
Eda Kemahlıoğlu‐Ziya
North Carolina State University
- 11 shared
Mark Pagell
- 11 shared
Marguerite Moore
- 11 shared
Sajjad Taghiyeh
North Carolina State University
Education
- 1991
Ph.D., Operations Management
University of Tennessee
- 1986
M.S., Operations Management
University of Tennessee
- 1984
B.S., Industrial Engineering
University of Tennessee
Awards & honors
- Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Operat…
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