When You’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Flower growing from dry, cracked soil.

Managing successfully under disrupted conditions

Natalie Simpson

Natalie Simpson headshot.

Friday, June 5, 2020
Noon-1 p.m. EST

Efficiency and control are the stars we steer by under normal conditions.  Disruption throws us into a different hemisphere, where those stars aren’t helpful, or even present in the sky above us.  To learn how to navigate this new world, we’ll examine the successful practices of professionals and organizations that routinely operate under disruption.  Emergency response, rapid product development, and even large-scale artistic endeavors are all examples of complex project work without precise control over the circumstances, and all these groups share intriguing operational habits we can adopt when we’re suddenly thrown into the same situation.

About Natalie Simpson
Natalie Simpson is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Operations Management and Strategy in the UB School of Management.  Her research in supply chains and emergency services appears in journals including the Journal of Operations Management, the Journal of the Operational Research Society, and the European Journal of Operational Research.  Natalie received a BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and both an MBA and PhD from the University of Florida. Her teaching interests include operations management and analytics, and she has earned numerous distinctions for instruction, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence and the Production and Operations Management Society’s Wickham Skinner Award.    She currently serves as a director on the board of the Decision Sciences Institute.