Areas of Expertise

Manufacturing strategy, Productivity, Service operations

Academic Degrees

• PhD, Yale University, 1973
• MPhil, Yale University, 1971
• AB, Princeton University, 1969

Professional Experience

• Professor, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 1987- present
• Visiting Professor, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, 2011-12
• Visiting Professor, IMD, 1986-87, 1992-93, 2002-03
• Associate Professor, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 1980-86
• Research Associate, Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies, 1978-1980
• Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School, 1974-78

Awards, Honors & Certificates

• Fellow, Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), 2004
• President, Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), 1997.
• Lilly Alumni Teaching Excellence Award: 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2010
• Outstanding Faculty Award, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 1982, 1985
• Other teaching awards: Max Barney Executive Education Award , 1996; Kelley Direct, 2003

Selected Publications

• Schmenner, R. (2015). The Pursuit of Productivity. Production and Operations Management, 24(2), 341-350.
• Boer, H., Holweg, M., Kilduff, M., Pagel, M., Schmenner, R., and Voss, C. (2015). Making a Meaningful Contribution to Theory. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 35(9), 1231-1252.
• Schmenner, R. W. (2012), Getting and Staying Productive: Applying Swift, Even Flow to Practice, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Schmenner, R. W. (2012). Overhead and Overlooked. Operations Management Research, 5(3-4), 87-90.
• Schmenner, R. W. (2009). Manufacturing, Service, and their Integration:  Some History and Theory. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 29(5), 431-443.
• Schmenner, R. W. (2009). Too Much Theory, Not Enough Understanding. Journal of Operations Management, 27(5), 339-343.
• Schmenner, R. W. and Collins, R. S. (2007). Understanding Persistently Variable Performance in Plants. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 27(3), 254-281.  
• Schmenner, R. W., and Vastag, G. (2006). Revisiting the Theory of Production Competence: Extensions and Cross-Validations. Journal of Operations Management, 24(6), 893-909.
• Schmenner, R. W. (2005). Because the Low-Hanging Fruit Keeps Growing Back. Editorial, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 25(11), 1041.
• Schmenner, R., and Tatikonda, M. V. (2005). Manufacturing Process Flexibility Revisited. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 25(12), 1183-1189.
• Schmenner, R. W. (2004). Service Businesses and Productivity. Decision Sciences, 35(3), 333-347.
• Schmenner, R. W. (2001). Looking Ahead by Looking Back:  Swift, Even Flow in the History of Manufacturing. Production and Operations Management, 10(1), 87-96. Reprinted in M. A. Lewis and N. Slack (2003) (eds.), Operations Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management, London: Routledge. A shorter version of this paper, intended for a managerial audience, was published as “Looking Ahead by Looking Back:  The Power of Swift, Even Flow,” in IMD’s Perspectives for Managers Series, No. 89, May.
• Schmenner, R. W. (2001). History of Technology, Manufacturing, and the Industrial Revolution: A Rejoinder. Production and Operations Management, 10(1), Spring, 103-106.  Reprinted in M. A. Lewis and N. Slack (2003). (eds.), Operations Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management, London: Routledge.
• Schmenner, R. W., and Petersen II, C. G. (1999). An Evaluation of Routing and Volume-based Storage Policies in an Order Picking Operation. Decision Sciences, 30(2), 481-501.
• Schmenner, R. W., Blocher, J. D., and Garrett, R. W. (1999). Throughput Time Reduction: Taking One’s Medicine. Production and Operations Management, 8(4), 357-373.
• Schmenner, R. W., and Swink, M. L. (1998). On Theory in Operations Management. Journal of Operations Management, 17(1), December, 97-113.  Reprinted in M. A. Lewis and N. Slack (eds.) (2003), Operations Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management, London: Routledge. 
• Schmenner, R. W. (1997). The Erosion in European Manufacturing. Production and Operations Management, 6(2), 110-113.
• Schmenner, R. W. (1997). A Comment on Kim Clark’s 'Competing Through Manufacturing and the New Manufacturing Paradigm: Is Manufacturing Strategy Passé?' Production and Operations Management, 6(4), 353-356.
• Schmenner, R. W., and Vollman, T. (1994). Performance Measures: Gaps, False Alarms, and the 'Usual Suspects'. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 14(12), 58-69.   Reprinted in:  "Mastering Management," Part 3, published by the Financial Times, London, 1995, and in the book  Mastering Management (1997), Financial Times, 302-306.
• Schmenner, R. W. (1993), Production/Operations Management: From the Inside Out (5th Edition), New York, NY: Macmillan.  
• Schmenner, R. W. (1991). International Factory Productivity Gains. Journal of Operations Management, 10(2), April, 229-254.
• Schmenner, R. W., and Rho, B. H. (1990). An International Comparison of Factory Productivity. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 10(4), 16-31.
• Schmenner, R. W. (1988). The Merit of Making Things Fast. Sloan Management Review, 30(1), pp. 11-17.    A shorter version of this paper appeared in IMEDE's Perspectives for Managers Series, No. 6, 1987.  It was reprinted in Spain in Expansion (April 1988) as "Productividad:  rock alreledor de reloj".  It was also reprinted in the Advanced Management Report, Vol. 8, No. 2 under a different title, "When Slower is Faster."
• Schmenner, R. W. (1986). How Can Service Businesses Survive and Prosper? Sloan Management Review, 27(3), 21-32..  Reprinted in both editions of Christopher H. Lovelock (ed.), Managing Services:  Marketing, Operations, and Human Resources, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1988, pp. 25-36 and 1992, pp. 31-42.
• Schmenner, R. W. (1982), Making Business Location Decisions. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Edited on September 27, 2021