Robert Swinney
Assistant Professor of Operations, Information, and Technology
Graduate School of Business
Stanford University
518 Memorial Way, Stanford, CA 94305-5015

Phone: 650.721.1296
Fax: 650.725.6152
Email: swinney@stanford.edu
Office: Littlefield 281
FA: Stacy Diaz, 650.723.1120

[ Official GSB Faculty Profile ] [ Curriculum Vitae ]

Research Interests

Professor Swinney's research addresses supply chain management issues with multiple parties in cooperative or competitive situations. Most recently, his work has focused on the effects of strategic consumer purchasing behavior on operational decision-making, with primary applications in fashion, retailing and manufacturing. He has also studied the interface of finance and operations (including methods of managing operational risk and the operations of start-up firms) and problems in supply chain contracting and coordination.

Journal Publications

Purchasing, Pricing, and Quick Response in the Presence of Strategic Consumers, with G. Cachon. Management Science, Vol. 55, No. 3, March 2009, pp. 497-511. Technical Appendix.
Long Term Contracts Under the Threat of Supplier Default, with S. Netessine. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Vol. 11, No. 1, Winter 2009, pp. 109-127. Technical Appendix.
Novel technique for ultra-sensitive determination of trace elements in organic scintillators, with Z. Djurcic, D. Glasgow, L. -W. Hu, R. D. McKeown, A. Piepke, and B. Tipton, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 507, No. 3, 2003, pp. 680-690.

Other Publications

The Impact of Strategic Consumer Behavior on the Value of Operational Flexibility, with G. Cachon, chapter to appear in Operations Management Models with Consumer-Driven Demand, S. Netessine and C. Tang, editors

Working Papers

Incentives for Cost Reduction When Consumers are Strategic, with S. Kim (in preparation)
Pricing and Procurement in a Market with Strategic Consumers, with G. Cachon (in preparation)
Do Fast Channels Benefit an Industry? (in preparation)
Risk Pooling with Strategic Customers (in preparation)
The Value of Fast Fashion: Rapid Production, Enhanced Design, and Strategic Consumer Behavior, with G. Cachon (last revised June 2009, submitted to Management Science)
Selling to Strategic Consumers When Product Value is Uncertain: The Value of Matching Supply and Demand (last revised January 2009, submitted to Management Science)
To Lead or Not to Lead: Strategic Capacity Commitment Under Disruptive Innovation (previously titled Capacity Investment by Competitive Start-ups), with G. Cachon and S. Netessine (last revised March 2009, coming soon)

In the News

The Games Companies Play, U.S. News & World Report, August 1, 2007
Here Today, Discounted Tomorrow: Strategic Shoppers Know When to Buy, and at What Price, Knowledge@Wharton, May 30, 2007